Pirates (Old Version)
by C-Nuggets N.L
Summary: Annabeth wishes to be a pirate, so she cross-dresses to board on Princess Andromeda. There, she realizes she's not the only female on the boat. Not only does Annabeth find freedom, but love too? She goes on a quest to find the Olympians. Annabeth's POV. Abandoned; has been re-written.
1. Chapter 1: Free at Last

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Pirates – Chapter One**

_Annabeth's Point of View:_

It was spring, and the green leaves are starting to sprout from their buds. I was sitting on a bench, staring dully at the plants in my garden; a very large garden, might I add. I was one of those "rich girls." I was always stuck in my stupid mansion because my parents wouldn't let me out to play with the other kids ever since I was little. They only let me out to go to tea parties and that crud. I'm sixteen now, and my life has been extremely…well, dull. I seriously envy those plants. They don't have parents bossing them around. I just wish that once, I could be free.

Pirates. They were always free. They get to do whatever they want, whenever they want. Why can't I do that? I mean, sure, pirates got a huge bounty on their heads, but they've got freedom. And that's what I want. I want to be a pirate too. But unfortunately, there's this pathetic rumor that it's bad luck having a girl on a ship. Plus, my parents would _never _approve.

This morning, I heard that the ship, Princess Andromeda was docked not so far away from here. Princess Andromeda was a pirate ship. Ship of Captain Luke Castellan. He was one of those infamous pirates, the richest pirate of the seven seas. I even heard that he was recruiting more people for his crew. If somehow I was able to get onto that boat, it would be a dream come true. And, I've also heard that Captain Castellan was pretty handsome.

Another reason why I couldn't go join the Princess Andromeda was because I'm going to be stuck here, having another stupid evening _tea party _with my stepmom and her friends. Ugh. You have no idea how much had hate wearing those corsets. I mean, who can _breathe _in those?

But like I said, my life's miserable as long as I remain here.

That's where my plan comes in. In the middle of that...tea party…I will excuse myself from them and head to my room. I'll change into some ratty guy clothes I have ready, braid my hair and put on a feathery hat, and I'll look like a guy. Brilliant. Except that my face would still look pretty feminine…Gah, but they're male pirates. Boys are stupid and oblivious. They wouldn't notice a thing. And then, I'll escape through my window. There's an old mattress at the bottom, and it's not being removed until Monday. After that, I'll run to the bar where the recruiting is taking place (I have my sources). Perfect, am I right? A completely flawless plan. If I don't get caught.

Fiddling with my long blond hair, I stared silently at a beautiful blue flower with my grey eyes. I was waiting for my stepmom to call me. Then I'd have to dress up all fancy. No way am I doing that _now_. Like I said, corsets are evil.

And then to my horror, my stepmother finally called my name. "Annabeth Chase! Get over here! The guests will be arriving soon!"

Sighing, I got up, taking one last glance at the forget-me-not flower, and dragged myself inside.

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><p>I was sitting up straight because I'm not allowed to slouch, and it's pretty hard to with a corset on. I'm sitting at a round table with tea and biscuits, surrounded by a bunch of other women. I was pretending to giggle with everyone else. Ugh, this feels so uncomfortable. Not just the corset and the dress, but acting as if I'm the most prefect the little step-daughter in the entire universe. Vomit.<p>

I looked up at the clock. It was almost seven. I resisted to sigh in relief. "Excuse me," I said politely, doing a short curtsey before walking up the stairs. Once I reached the second floor, I ran to my room with extreme haste. I almost ripped off my current clothes, and changed into the ones prepared on my bed. Quickly, I braided my hair and grabbed a leather hat with a feather on it. Opening the window, I notice the mattress was gone. Crap. They said Monday!

Groaning, I quickly tried to think of a different plan. The only one I could think of was sneaking past those giggling freaks and my stepmother. My dad was away for business and isn't coming back until next month, thank goodness. There were maids, but they were now occupied at the round table, serving desserts. And there are the guards. Oh god, this'll be difficult, but certainly worth the risk. Anything for freedom.

I tilted my hat so that it hid my eyes. I grabbed the sword hung on the wall in the hallway that's supposed to be for décor, but still sharp and useful. I can't say I've ever used a sword before, but it can't be _that _hard. I tied it against my belt and started tiptoeing down the stairs; I made sure I didn't touch the creaking parts of the steps. Though, it was actually completely useless since a fat plump woman had emerged from the washroom and easily spotted me. She screeched.

"Guards! Guards!" shouted the lady in terror. "There's a thief! A thief!"

Well, at least my disguise worked. But this was no time to flatter myself.

The other women in the dining room heard and began screaming, calling the guards too. Lovely, right? Hah. I dashed out the doors, only to be cornered my several armed men.

They pointed their swords at me. "Who are you?" growled guard number one.

I didn't answer, but I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword that I've stolen. Oh, so I really am a thief… though that's really not the point. Anyways, they couldn't see my face because it was still hidden.

"Speak!" demanded guard number two.

Instead, I unsheathed my sword and put myself into a fighting stance. What have I gotten myself into?

Guard number three tried to fight me, but I blocked his sword with mine in perfect timing. This wasn't so bad. It was like dancing, but with a sword. I silently thanked my father for forcing me to take those boring dance lessons.

You know, being ganged up upon by people who work under you isn't a very nice feeling. I removed my sword from blocking guard number three's sword, and ducked as he swung. I kicked guard number one in the chest so that he fell over, and I elbowed number three in the stomach. This time, I thanked myself for being able to convince my dad to give me self-defense lessons. Hitting guard number two's head with the hilt of my sword, I heard more guards marching down to meet me. Damn it. But at least the doors aren't blocked anymore, so I sprinted out.

I congratulated myself as I reached the pub. I didn't think I'd be able to run that fast, and my first fight was a success. Opening the shabby looking door, I ducked as a glass mug came hurtling towards my face. Whoa. The people in here were throwing things and fist fighting each other, making a complete mess. I dodged a few other items as I made my way towards a man behind a table with a line on the other side. He has raven messy hair and vibrant sea green eyes. He was lean and well built. Surely this must be Luke Castellan everybody talks about. He was...extremely good looking.

I queued myself in the line too and tapped the short, thin man in front of me. He turned around. He had electric blue eyes and tied up spikey black hair under his own feathered hat. "Is this the line for the Princess Andromeda?" I asked in a demanding voice. It made me sound powerful, what men usually sound like.

I probably passed my male voice test because he replied. "Yes," he said in a strange hoarse voice. "Signing up?"

I nodded.

"I'm Tailor Grace," the man continued, voice still pretty hoarse. "You?"

Shit. "Chase Bettington," I made up on the spot. Damn it. Oh wow, I'm so creative. I hope he doesn't notice me as a girl.

I could've went on my knees and thanked god when he just nodded and turned around to take a few steps forward. I followed. Tailor made it to the crew, that lucky –

"Next," called a voice.

I walked up to the green eyed man and tried not to blush under his gaze.

"Name?" he asked me.

"Chase Bettington," I replied.

"Reason why you think you'd be qualified for our crew," he continued.

Reason? I thought for a moment before I lifted my sword to show him. The hilt was pure silver with real, fancy gold patterns on it, and the metal for the blade shone brightly. "I stole this." Well, I wasn't exactly lying, now am I?

The man grinned impressed. "Nice. Where'd you get it?"

"Ironically, the Chase residence," I answered smoothly, a small smile playing on my lips.

"Did you get caught?" he asked me, very interested.

"Escaped though," I said simply.

"Not bad," he said, handing me a clipboard. "Sign your name below and leave for the dock. Find the coolest ship there and wait in front of it. Luke Castellan's there too so you'd be able to recognize it easily."

This man wasn't Castellan? It seemed impossible. He looked pretty hot. Ugh, here I go. I'm pretending to be a guy, so _think _like a guy! I kept chanting that mantra in my head as I nodded and walked off, forgetting to feel excited that I made it to Andromeda's crew.

Arriving at the dock, I noticed a group of men stood in front of – I must say so myself – a pretty cool ship. The flag was blue with a white picture of a winged shoe. The wooden ship was fairly large, and it didn't look as scary as I've expected. I crossed my fingers, hoping there wouldn't be any spiders on board.

I took a look at my crew members. I noticed Tailor there too. There was another man, African American, huge and bulky. He looked pretty terrifying. There was another guy who looked really sulky. He had dark hair and eyes, staring at the floor emotionlessly. Another man looked as if he was limping with his two wooden legs, had a goatee and brown hair. And then there were twins with curly brown hair poking each other for fun. Another brown haired person was wearing a big hat and staring at one of the twins nervously with his green eyes, chewing on his nails. And there in front of the Princess Andromeda stood a blonde man with blue eyes. He had a scar running down his face, a hook replacing his left hand, grinning upon everyone here. He must've been Luke Castellan, and he _was _pretty handsome. I guess the rumors were right about that.

Tailor was looked around warily. He spotted me and walked over. "You made it?"

I smirked and nodded, proud of myself.

We stood there silently, waiting. It was getting awkward a bit, two people with feathered hats standing next to each other, eyeing others almost evilly. I couldn't help it! I just felt the need to analyze everything.

Soon enough, the green-eyed man ran up to Luke. He handed him the clipboard. Luke read the names aloud, letting the called person to enter the boat.

"Charles Beckendorf!" Luke shouted, and the huge, bulky man walked forward.

"Just call me Beckendorf, Captain," he says in a deep voice. Luke nodded and let him pass.

"Nico di Angelo!" The sulky boy walked towards the boat.

"Kit Gardner!" The short man with the big hat ran onto the boat.

"Travis Stoll!" One of the twins whooped and dashed in.

"Conner Stoll!" The other twin whooped louder and followed his brother.

"Grover Underwood!" The man with the goatee and wooden legs limped onto the boat.

"Tailor Grace!" The man beside me walked in.

"Chase Bettington!" I frowned following Tailor. "You know I'm the last person here, right?" I told Luke annoyingly before passing him.

As I took my first step inside my boat, I was already being pulled away by someone. It was the man with green eyes. My face began to feel hot again.

He grinned at me. "Chase, my right? I'm Perseus Jackson by the way. But call me Percy, okay?"

"Alright," I tried not to squeak. We were standing pretty close, and I felt my face turn into a darker shade of red. "I – I should head to the forecastle now," I said, tilting my hat lower to hide my face. He seemed to be trying to catch my eye.

Percy blinked in confusion, but he nodded.

I hurried off to claim a bunk, and I found an available one near the door. Tailor snagged the hammock. Nico wanted to sleep on the wooden floor. Beckendorf chose a bed at the way end. The twins took a couple bunks, and Kit took one too. There were four more bunks empty, and a blanket sprawled on the floor as if someone slept there. One of them should be Percy's. Luke's got the captain's quarters. Either it was supposed to be empty, or there were four more people onboard.

Apart of my suspicions were answered when another man walked in. He had an eye patch on, glaring at everyone here with an angry expression on his face.

"That's my spot," he growled at Tailor.

Tailor had a brow raised. "Well then," he snorted. "I'm taking it."

The eye patch man fumed as he cracked his knuckles, sneering at Tailor. "Then you've got to fight me for it, Shorty," he challenged.

"Gladly," Tailor spat, getting up.

The eye patched man was much taller, but the look on Tailor's face was more intimidating. Eye Patch Guy swung his fist at him, but Tailor ducked. He kicked Eye Patch Guy in the stomach way too hard and he doubled over. Tailor punched his face while he was down, unsheathed his sword and pointed it at his throat. It was short and it ended quickly. I was happy I didn't pick a fight with Tailor.

I tilted my hat a bit, bowing my head towards Tailor in respect. Tailor just nodded at me, looking very satisfied.

Percy rushed into the forecastle. "Ethan! Captain's calling you!" he said, ignoring the fact that a small fight was going on here.

Eye Patch Guy, who most likely is Ethan, pushed the thin sword away with his finger and stood up. He growled at Tailor before walking up the creaking stairs again.

Percy turned and grinned at everybody. "Oh, right. My name's Percy Jackson. That over there was Ethan," he frowned a bit. "We need to head back to deck _really _soon and get the boat moving," he winked and waved, then scrambled back up the stairs.

I almost blushed again at how cute he looked just then. I began muttering the mantra to myself quietly again as Beckendorf returned to his conversation with Kit and Grover, Tailor and Nico went back to snoring, and the twins poking at each other once again.

Footsteps were heard once again a while later and Percy's head popped back in. Everyone stopped chattering, and Tailor and Nico woke up. "Just a warning, you don't want to mess with Clarisse and Ethan. Clarisse loves murdering. There's another guy, Chris. He's okay though. And Pollux drinks a lot, so you might want to stay away from him too. Plus, you need to be up deck right now. Captain's orders." He pointed up at the ceiling before he ran back up the stairs without another word.

"You know, I like this Percy dude," Travis claimed. He was taller than Conner.

"I do too," Conner nodded in agreement. "Wanna put some worms in his bread next morning?"

"Totally," Travis said with a grin.

And with that, we rushed up the staircase and up on deck to get the boat to set sail. Butterflies flew in my stomach wondering what kind of adventures would be out there, and I hoped nobody would find out I was a female. If somebody did, I might be forced to walk the plank. I'm not much of a swimmer. I looked out at the dark blue ocean. still couldn't believe I was finally free.

I caught Luke's eye and he grinned at me. Face starting to heat up, I hoped he didn't notice who I was. I smiled back nervously and went back to work. Today sure was eventful.

* * *

><p><strong>Here it is! First chapter! Please review, review, review! I love reviews as much as Percy loves blue!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: I'm Not the Only One

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**A/N: I might not be able to update as often (sorry!). School's starting in about a day for me. Horror? Oh, yes.**

**Pirates – Chapter Two (I'm Not the Only One)**

The sails were open and the Princess Andromeda was finally moving across the waters. I knew how to get a boat sailing, but I didn't think it would tire me out this fast.

There was another girl on the boat other than me, and she looked murderous. She must've been Clarisse. She wore a bloody red bandana, ripped up clothing as if she'd been in a thousand sword fights and a cutlass tied to her belt. I understood why they let _this _girl on board. She looked huge and bulky; she must've won millions of fights. Maybe if I proved the captain I could be of some use, they'd let me stay on this boat if they ever found out my real gender.

Clarisse shoved each of us newcomers a bucket of murky water and a useless looking sponge. "Get working, punks!" she hollered at us, and I noticed that she had a golden tooth when she snarled.

Frightened, I got straight to scrubbing the deck with the others. I do not want to get beaten by her. That wouldn't be a smart move at all; more like a death wish.

"Prissy!" Clarisse roared, storming up to Percy, a scowl on her face.

As I washed the wooden floors, I tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, wondering what Clarisse was going to do.

"It's Percy!" he corrected her with grimace.

"Does it _look _like I care?" she snarled, sizing him up. Percy was about to speak but Clarisse cut him off. "Shut it! Captain says dinner. Start making it!" I noticed right away Clarisse and Percy aren't on good terms with each other.

"Oi, oi," says another pirate, stumbling up to them. He must've been Pollux. He was holding up a bottle of rum lazily with a dazed expression on his face. He was grinning, and I noticed how he had several teeth missing. And it was hard to miss the black eye too. "Heh heh. Ya don' wanna cause any more trouble, da ya? Captn's gonna be pissed if yer two get into anotha fight again. I'm gonna get some more rum…" He hiccupped before stumbling off to find a bottle of beer.

"Tch," Clarisse spat. "Prissy can't even scratch me."

"Can too," Percy growled. "And if I remember clearly, I've beaten you up _loads _of times."

"Loads? I almost killed you thousands of times!" Clarisse yelled.

"Hah! Yeah right! Exaggeration! I never agreed to have a woman on board! This is pathetic! Women are completely stupid!" Percy shouted back.

I abruptly stopped scrubbing. _Excuse_ me? I felt my blood boil. Oh, so he thinks I'm stupid, does he? Well, cute or not, I'll kill him one day. Heck, I'd be happy to kill him now. Women have pride, doesn't he know that? Plus feelings too. And dear god, if he calls _me _stupid, oh, he won't even want to know what'll happen.

I dismissed the idea of slaughtering Percy when I realized everyone else was listening to their conversation too. Tailor's eye was twitching, glaring at the floor who was kneeling next to me, and Kit who was across from me almost squeezed the all the water out of her sponge. Nico was watching with pure interest, probably pleading them to fight from the looks of it, as well as Conner and Travis. Grover was chewing on his lip nervously. Beckendorf's head was turned towards them, but his hands were still busy washing the deck with his sponge. Ethan and Pollux (with his new bottle of rum) were sitting down, watching with amusement (those lazy butts).

"Heh heh heh!" Pollux chuckled. "Stupid women," he giggled.

I want to shoot him too.

"Clarisse isn't stupid," defended another guy. I guessed he was Chris. Chris had a black bandana and brown hair, leather gloves, pirate clothing, and tanned skin. He was muscular, but not as much as Beckendorf. I've also detected a faint blush on his cheeks even though he looked worried about the situation.

"_Women _aren't stupid," Clarisse corrected without moving her eyes away from Percy. She jabbed Percy's chest with her finger impolitely. "And by the way, I don't think its bad luck having a girl on a ship. It's bad luck having _you _here."

Percy smacked her hands away. "Hah! That proves you _are_ stupid!"

"I'll strangle you!" Clarisse threatened.

"_QUIET_," thundered a voice. It was Captain Luke. He had just stepped out of Captain's quarters, probably wondering what the entire ruckus was. He was glaring down at Percy and Clarisse who seemed to be the ship's entertainment at the moment. "You two get to work! I'm putting Chris on kitchen duty instead! Percy, start scrubbing! And the rest of you too!"

I went back to brushing the deck with my sponge and Percy took a spot next to me. He was scowling. Even though he looked hot when he was angry, I would never forgive him for insulting us females. He has no idea how long I've hated the rumor "no girls on ships; it'll kill you." I've spent _years _wanting to be a pirate, but that stupid tiny rule was blocking the way, excluding my dad and stepmom. And _Percy _supports that stupid saying? Ugh. And he also insulted my intelligence! The nerve of him. I ignored Percy, pretending I didn't even notice him there. Hopefully he'll get the message and walk away.

But he didn't. "You think women are stupid, don't you?" Percy asked me in a low, hushed voice. He sounded as if he was begging me to say yes.

I snorted. Like hell. "I think you are," I replied, and moved off to a different spot. I could've sworn I saw disappointment in his eyes when I turned away. I tried not to feel guilty. I was still pissed at him.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Clarisse slowly and casually coming closer to me as she mopped. When she finally reached my side, she introduced herself. "Clarisse."

"Chase," I nodded to her respectively.

We washed the floors quietly for a few more minutes. "You think women are stupid?" she suddenly asked me, not demandingly, but more innocently.

"Hah," I almost laughed. "If women are stupid, then I am," I muttered to myself.

Clarisse blinked and looked confused for a moment. "What?" she whispered to me very interested.

Crap. I did not just say that. ADHD does not come in handy at times like these. I pulled my hat lower, wanting to cover my entire face. I was finally on this ship! I do not want to be kicked off already! I felt so exposed.

"Nothing," I hastily replied, jerking my head away from her. I scrubbed the wooden floor a bit too fiercely.

Clarisse didn't let my comment go though. She grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. She lifted my hat so she could see my eyes and face properly, but didn't completely take it off. Nobody else was looking, thank goodness. Percy was mopping the deck with blind fury, and everyone else was trying to clean up the vomit Pollux had just made.

"You're a girl?" she asked me quietly, surprised. Her face softened as it looked as if she was either happy or eased for some reason.

I jerked my head away again, and pulled my hat back down. "Be quiet! I don't want anybody knowing." I crossed my fingers, hoping she won't tattle.

It was as if she read my mind. "I won't tell anyone," she promised me. "I hate being the only girl on this ship."

I bit my lip, hesitant to reply. "Well I've got to admit," I said. "I was relieved to see the female population here isn't one."

Clarisse nodded in agreement. We went back to cleansing the floors silently. I've got a good feeling Clarisse and I are going to be good friends. We both have some common interests too; we hate sexist guys like Percy.

When dinner was ready, I wasn't that hungry. I had tea and freaking biscuits earlier, but I've decided I should eat anyways. We were all in the forecastle right now. Clarisse and I sat on my bunk, crossed legged as Chris served us some brown looking muck and handed each of us a piece of bread. I could've sworn Chris gave me the evil eye as he passed me my dinner.

I gagged at my bowl. "We eat this?" I asked her.

Clarisse grunted. "Yep. You get used to it in a while. It doesn't taste much, but this stuff's easy to preserve. Plus these bread."

I stared at the bread in my hand. It hardly looked like bread. It looked greyish and felt like rock. I tried to take a bite out of it, but when I did, my teeth felt like they were about to fall out. If I didn't know better, it could've _been _rock.

"It's easier to eat like this," Clarisse demonstrated. She dipped the stale bread into the brown muck and ate it. I did what she did and I realized it made the bread easier to chew. The muck made the bread softer. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't good either. It was just plain.

I noticed Tailor sitting by himself on his hammock. He was looking at us curiously. That was when I noticed something about him. Tailor's eyes looked _feminine_. When I caught his eye, he looked down at his bowl of brown porridge intensely. More like _her _though. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this earlier. Now that I've figured it out though, she _did _look more like a girl.

I nudged Clarisse's side. It wasn't just the two of us after all. There was Tailor as well. I just know it.

"What?" Clarisse asks mouth full of bread and brown goo.

"Look at Tailor. The one on the hammock," I whispered, and I turned back to my food. If both of us were staring at one person suspiciously, we would look pretty suspicious ourselves.

Clarisse looked up to see Tailor trying to gnaw on her bread. "What about him?"

"Or _her_," I corrected. "I don't think there are just two of us." I smirked as Clarisse examined Tailor closely. "Percy won't be happy."

Clarisse guffawed loudly. "Right you are!" She smacked my back really hard as she laughed. It hurt like hell. I rubbed my spine with a small grimace. Everybody who was in their own conversation looked up to check what was happening. Chris looked upset, and Percy looked hurt as if I betrayed him. "Hey Tailor! Come sit with us!"

Tailor looked shocked, but came over anyways. We scooted over so Tailor could sit in between us, our legs dangling at the edge of the bed.

"What are you all looking at?" Clarisse roared at everyone else, and they went back to whatever they were doing. "Well?" Clarisse stared at Tailor seriously.

"Well what?" Tailor asked, looking a bit panicked, her voice sounding hoarser than before.

I looked around to make sure nobody's trying to hear our conversation. It didn't seem like it. "What gender are you really?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

Tailor bit her lip. "You can't tell _anybody_," she demanded us whisperingly, her voice not hoarse anymore, but more girly. "I _can't _go back."

"So you're a girl too?" Clarisse says in a hushed voice, very excitedly. "Psh, Prissy can't tell the difference between a girl and a boy!"

"Yeah… You won't tell, will you?" Tailor hoped. "If you do, I'd –,"

"Hell no," I shook my head, interrupting her. "If I tattled, you could rat me out too. Besides, it's good having another girl on the ship."

Tailor's eyes widened. "Are you a girl too?"

"Was my disguise that good?" I asked sweetly, my own voice going back to normal as I tilted my hat a bit upwards. Not that it wasn't before, but it sounded less commanding.

"Couldn't fool me," Clarisse shook her head smugly.

"Hardy, har har," I rolled my eyes. "It was my ADHD…"

Tailor let out a sigh of relief, mixed with a bit of disbelief. "Thank god. I thought I was the only one besides Clarisse."

"Hey, what's wrong with me?" Clarisse scowled at her.

"Nothing. It's just I thought you'd tell Captain Luke and have me thrown off," Thalia explained. "No way will I walk the plank. I can't even swim."

"I hardly know how to swim," I frowned. "My dad thought that if I knew how to swim, I would start getting involved with pirates. He didn't know I would either way."

"You two don't know how to swim?" Clarisse asked with doubt. "Knowing how to swim is important if you want to be a pirate. You'd be an easy target if you didn't. We're heading over to Olympus. It's a city for pirates only. There's a beach and I could teach you how to swim there."

"Ooh!" says a different voice that startled us all. An upside down head popped up. It was Kit. When did Kit change his bunk to above mine? I peered over to his previous bunk and found Ethan sitting on it. That explained it. Has he been eavesdropping the entire time?

Kit was clinging onto his hat and he grinned at all three of us. "Can I join the swim lesson?" He voice was…girly? Kit was a girl too? I didn't think there'd be this many stowaway girls on the Princess Andromeda.

"Uh…" Clarisse gapped. Tailor and I followed her example.

Kit climbed down her new bunk and sat beside me. There was hardly any space left. "You're all girls too, right?"

"You listened to our conversation!" hissed Tailor, pointing an accusing finger at her.

Kit raised her hands up in surrender. "Sorry! I thought I was the only girl here besides Clarisse."

"Again, _what_ is wrong with me?" Clarisse grumbled to herself.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Kit reassured. "My real name's Katie Gardner," she properly introduced herself.

"Thalia Grace," Tailor, or _Thalia _says, shaking her hand.

"Annabeth Chase," I smiled sheepishly.

Clarisse blinked and there was a moment of silence, everybody taking in the fact that there are actually other females on board disguising as men. Clarisse then furrowed her eyebrows. "Whoa. Now that I think of it, your fake names _sucked_."

"Why, gee, thank you," Thalia says sarcastically.

"You're welcome. If you want another insult, just ask," Clarisse says. "My full name is Clarisse la Rue. But you three still have to stick by your horrid fake names. You don't want the guys to find out. They are _sexist _creatures."

"Well, we aren't stupid, thank you very much," Thalia huffed. "Percy can go and suck it. But I have to agree with you. After what that Percy-Idiot said earlier on deck, I want to strangle him too."

"Too bad," I said, crossing my arms like a five-year old. "I call dibs."

"No fair!" Clarisse, Katie, and Thalia exclaimed in outrage. Everyone turned their heads to us again. It was as if we were an attention magnet.

"I kill him first!" Clarisse pointed her thumb at her chest, sitting up straight.

"Hah!" Thalia's voice hoarse again since she noticed others paying attention to our argument, "I kill _him _first!" she clenched her fists.

"I already called dibs!" I growled.

"I want to rip out his vocal cords! I want him to suffer and have a slow painful death…" Katie says evilly, her eyes darkening with a sickening smile.

We all stared noiselessly at Katie in fear and shock, even Clarisse a bit. She looked so happy-go-lucky and innocent; hell it seemed impossible for her to even have a dark side, even if we just met her.

"Sorry," Katie says, ducking her head down shyly. "I do that sometimes."

"I like you, punk," Clarisse says, her eyes filling with happiness and pride. It was as if Katie was her daughter or something. "I could teach you some stuff! There are billions of ways to kill someone, you know?"

"Um, I'm sorry," Travis interrupted. "_Who _do you want to kill?"

"That's none of your damn business," Clarisse bellowed, angry again. "Do you want to die too?"

Travis gulped and looked away, munching his last bit of bread. Conner followed his example.

"You know," I said thoughtfully afterwards, everyone's eyes still on us. I didn't care though. "I still called dibs."

Clarisse glared icily at me and stabbed her brown porridge with her rock hard bread furiously, and began chewing on it angrily. Thalia and Katie did the same.

Smiling victoriously, I ate my dinner too. I guess it wasn't so bad sharing a secret with some other people, and learning others' too. I didn't really expect somebody to find out so soon (me and my loud mouth...). It was nice knowing I wasn't the only one with an alias though. I was pretty happy: I made new friends, and knowing I wasn't the only one made me feel more at home.

We all soon crawled into our beds and fell into a deep slumber. I like that feeling. Happiness.


	3. Chapter 3: Let's Play a Game

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Pirates – Chapter Three (Let's Play a Game)**

I was woken up by Clarisse's voice.

"GET UP, YOU SCUMBAGS!" she roared. She was standing in front of the archway to the stairs, and she was even louder than an alarm clock.

I groaned. My bed was closest to her right now since it was closest to the door; my ears hurt more than everyone else's. Instead of getting up, I shuffled a bit in my bunk and tried to go back to sleep.

But Clarisse had different ideas. She dragged me off successfully as if I was a rag doll, hitting onto the floor painfully.

"WAKE UP, PRINCESS!" Clarisse hollered.

I heard Travis and Conner snickering at me. Oh yeah. I was supposed to be acting as a guy. A male being called a princess is not manly at all. It's not like I exactly care though; I'm not a boy after all.

"Hmph," I grunted, getting up from the dusty floors. I patted dust off my pants and shifted my hat properly onto my head. I stretched and heard some bones crack. This might be a slight disadvantage to being Clarisse's friend. "I couldn't get an extra two minutes?"

"No," Clarisse deadpanned. Yep, it's definitely a disadvantage. "Now come on! We're changing course!"

Groaning, I re-braided my hair quickly and followed Clarisse up the steps with the other girls behind me. The boys, it seemed, were walking way too sluggishly.

We all got up on deck and tiredly looked around. Luke was steering the boat, changing its direction. The wind was alright, giving the boat a nice sailing pace.

Katie and I went to mend the ropes while Clarisse and Beckendorf fixed on some…whatever the stuff is broken on the boat. Everyone else continued to clean the ship tiredly.

"Percy!" bellowed the Captain. "You're on breakfast duty!"

"Aye, Captain!" Percy answered immediately, dropped his mop and sprinted down to the forecastle.

"Hmm…" Katie hummed as I helped her untangle some ropes. "You know, last night when you were asleep, Percy came to talk to me."

Surprised, my head snapped to her attention. "What?" I exclaimed. "Um, what'd he say?"

Katie looked at me oddly. "He asked me if I thought women were stupid."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course," I muttered to myself. What else would Percy even tell Katie?

"I said no, and he shook it off. But then he asked me why you were avoiding him 'cause he asked that same question to you," Katie continued. _I knew it_. That old Scallywag was talking about me behind my back.

I scowled. "Hmph, I wasn't _avoiding _him," I lied.

"_Well_," Katie went on. "After that, I asked why he was asking me and not you. He replied that he 'thought I was your friend', which is correct," she added hastily. "But anyways, he told me that he thought you _liked _Clarisse, which is why you sided with her and ditched him as a friend."

I choked on air. "I'm sorry," I coughed. "_WHAT?"_

Katie looked around and I followed her example. Some people were beginning to stare at us again.

"Hush!" she whispered. "Do you want the entire ship to hear our conversation?"

"Sorry," I apologized, lowering my voice. "But _really_? Ugh, what does that boy have in his head? Seaweed?"

Katie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. He thinks you're a guy anyways," she says. "Of course he'd assume so. Plus, have you seen Chris? I saw him spit into your brown porridge yesterday. I think he thought you liked Clarisse too; he's probably jealous."

"Oh. My. God. He did _what_?" I hissed. "I can't believe I _ate _that," I muttered to myself, feeling disgusted, face turning green.

"That's not the point! But don't you think that Chris likes Clarisse?" Katie asked, sounding giddy for an answer.

"Well, yeah. He was defending her when she and Percy were having an argument," I said. "So?"

Katie frowned. "_So_? Oh please! You don't care? Chris and Clarisse needs to get together! They'd be cute together don't you think?"

"Well, for the first question: um, yeah. I don't care," I replied. "What do you even want to do?"

Katie shrugged. "I dunno. Can't think of anything. It's why I'm asking you. Nothing too dangerous or overdramatic," she also added with a shudder. "That's not my style."

I raised an eyebrow. "Dangerous? I'm sorry, but we're on a _pirate boat_."

Katie rolled her eyes once again as I finished up with the ropes. "You know what I mean."

"Hey!" Pollux slurred, walking up to us dozily. "Ya seadogs done with ye ropes?" he giggled. "Go back ter cleanin'!" he growled in upmost anger.

Katie and I got a mini heart attack, looking bewildered. We both thought Pollux would usually loll around happily rather than order people around with grumpy moods. We both scurried over to a bucket of water and a sponge, and then began our cleaning.

Thank goodness though; Percy had finished up with the disgusting brown porridge after a few minutes later. I was starving even though our everyday meal was able to keep me full for hours. And you'd think I'd lose my appetite after hearing that Chris spat in my food last night.

I rushed down to our bunks to find Percy in an apron with brown splats covering it and a large bowl of brown ick in his hands. He was trying to pour out the stuff in separate wooden bowls, but the viscosity of the porridge was too thick. It flowed much too slowly. Percy's eyes furrowed in frustration, shaking the bowl a bit to get the brown stuff to move faster. Once again, the thought of how cute Percy looked appeared in my mind again.

My face heated up when I realized I was staring. But I was lucky since the others were still up deck, walking down really slowly, and that Percy didn't notice me yet.

I quietly sighed in relief and sat down on my bunk. Percy didn't turn around, so I continued to stare again.

Percy groaned. "Stupid mud," he muttered to himself angrily, continuing to wobble our breakfast out.

"You know it'd be faster if you heat it up, right?" I asked, not realizing that I spoke until a moment later.

Percy flinched in surprise. He quickly turned to me. "Oh," he says glumly. "It's you."

I frowned. "Oh? What'd you mean by 'it's you'?"

"Nothing," Percy shook his head with a scowl. "Why aren't you with _Clarisse_?"

"Why? Do I _have to be_ with her?" I argued.

Percy opened his mouth to continue our argument, but Luke walked down with the rest of the crew.

"Good!" our captain says. "Dinner's ready. Chase, is it? Go help Percy serve the food. I'm famished!"

Eyes wide, I quickly recovered from my shock, and nodded my head. I was dumbfounded to see our captain down here. I hurried up and dashed towards Percy, snatched the bowl from Percy's hands and poured the porridge into the bowl plenty faster than Percy did. Percy grabbed the smaller filled bowls and handed them out to everyone, the last two for ourselves.

"Captain usually eats with us down here," Percy explained to me after he walked back from giving the other's their food. "He only stays up when he's busy with the ship. Luke says it's important to get to know each other more."

"He's smart," I've decided, looking over at Captain Castellan. I had to admit too, his blond hair made him look amazingly hot.

"Anyways, here," Percy handed me a bowl.

I stared at the porridge suspiciously before looking back up to him. "You didn't spit in this, did you?"

Percy laughed. "No way! Why'd I do that?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Chris spat in mine yesterday," I stuck out my tongue. "Ka- Kit just told me," I covered myself up.

"Oh. You know Chris likes Clarisse, right?" Percy leaned onto the wall casually, sticking a piece of bread into his porridge.

"He told me that too," I nodded, taking a bite of my muddy-covered bread too.

"And…you're okay with it?" Percy blinked in confusion. The thought of his cuteness clouded my mind again.

"Yeah," I said, trying my best to seem unfazed by his actions. "Why would I?" I said, pretending I didn't know.

Percy shrugged. "It's nothing," he shook his head, chewing on his breakfast. "But why were you upset when I asked you if you thought women were stupid?" he asked me curiously.

I shook my head and mimicked him. "It's nothing."

Percy watched me skeptically, knowing I was trying to hide something. My face began to redden at his gaze, both in hope that he doesn't notice me as a girl, and because he was trying to meet my eyes again. I jerked my head away from his sea green eyes and concentrated on my food; I couldn't drown in his eyes right now. My cover would be blown. Instead of bugging me about it though, he gave up and sighed before going back to his eating.

But a few moments later, he spoke up again. "I think you were being a bit overdramatic when I asked you that question yesterday," he says.

I raised a brow. "Over dramatic?" I scoffed, but then thought for a moment. I bit my lip. "Maybe just a teensy bit," I admitted.

Percy grinned. "Just a teensy bit," he agreed. He looked around the room and everyone seemed to be busy with their own stuff.

Castellan was lecturing the Stolls while the girls chatted with each other in a deep conversation. Beckendorf, Nico, and Grover played cards together as Pollux and Ethan both drank some rum and started insulting each other like a game. Chris just sat in a gloomy corner, eating his breakfast sadly.

Percy put down his bread in his bowl of porridge and reached for his pocket. He took out a small plastic box of salted crackers. "You want one?" he asked me in a low voice.

My eyes fixed on the box intently. I nodded my head as if I were hypnotized.

Percy grinned. He opened the box, took out a cracker, and then waved it in front of my face. "Here, doggy, doggy!" he teased.

I glared. "Are you going to give it to me or not?" I asked angrily.

Percy chuckled before handing me the cracker. "You get irritated easily, you know? It'd be easy for enemies to provoke you."

I scowled as I chewed on the cracker. I swallowed. "Your point?"

"Well, you can take Ethan for example. Conner told me about the fight Ethan had with Taylor. If you can't handle a minor insult from someone, you could get into a fight; get yourself hurt," Percy says.

"Are you comparing me to Ethan?" I frowned.

"Changing the subject," Percy accused. "But you need to increase your tolerance level."

"And how should I do that?" I asked half-heartedly.

"If you can tolerate me for one entire day," Percy says. "Then you'll pass. Up for the challenge?"

I thought for a minute. For one, I love challenges. Two, Percy would have to be around me the entire day. I blushed at the thought. Three, it shouldn't be that hard, right?

"Alright. But If I win, I get the _entire _box of crackers. Deal?" I said.

Percy grinned once again and held his hand out. "But if you can't," he started. "You're going to be on Head duty until we get to Olympus."

My face paled. The Head of a ship is basically the washroom. I've been in there once before I started on the ropes, and god it stunk worse than fifty skunks covered in nacho cheese stuck in one room with no air holes in it. Being on Head duty meant _cleaning _the place. And for one, I'm absolutely sick of cleaning right now.

But I can win, right? Right.

I shook his hand and nodded. "Deal," we said in unison. Percy put away his crackers and we both finished up our breakfasts.

Percy gave a smug smile after wiping his mouth with his sleeve and taking off the apron. "The game starts now 'till the end of the day."

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><p><strong>Hey! Sorry I couldn't update this earlier. I had it finished days ago...didn't exactly edit though...so yeah...Sorry 'bout that.<br>Plus homework was more than ever so far. But hell, high school was still freaking AWESOME.  
>Don't worry! I'm <em>not<em> giving up on my fanfictions!**

**Keep those reviews ROLLING IN~ :D  
>More like sailing, eh? ;) <strong>


	4. Chapter 4: A Moment or Two Ruined

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Pirates – Chapter Four (A Moment or Two Ruined)**

Percy wouldn't shut up.

"Don't you think we should die our porridge blue? I mean, it'd look tastier, my right?" he blabbered.

Apparently, we're having a little break from cleaning. Everyone are on deck, drinking rum, chatting, or playing cards. Luke continued to steer the wheel as Percy continued to talk about blue food. For some odd reason, he likes his food blue. He's practically obsessed with the colour blue. I'm trying my best to space out and ignore him. But some of the stuff he tells about himself are sort of interesting. At least it's not that bothering.

"Hey, Chase!" Thalia waved at me to come over. She was standing with Clarisse and Katie by a wide wooden pole with the crow's nest.

I trotted over to them, Percy on my tail, now talking about his mother.

"I mean, she used to make blue cookies for me when I was younger. She's really nice. I kind of miss her," Percy says a bit sadly once I've reached my friends.

"Um, why's he here?" Katie gestured her hand towards Percy.

"Clearly, he's trying to irritate me," I said with an exhausted sigh.

"And is it working?" Percy asked hopefully.

"No," I deadpanned.

"He's trying to annoy you because…?" Thalia trailed off for an answer.

"We made a bet," I grumbled.

"Oh, no," Katie says. "No, no, no. You aren't _that _stupid are you?"

My eye twitched. Okay, so maybe this bet _was_ pretty stupid for me to agree on: making a bet with an experienced pirate. But if I didn't, it'd make me look like a coward in front of Percy. Plus, if I won, free crackers, my right? And I get to know Percy more, which is another benefit of this little bet.

"What'd you two bet on?" Clarisse asked curiously.

"Nothing," Percy shrugged. "At least, nothing someone like you should know."

"And what does that mean?" Clarisse growled, taking a step closer to him as if she was going to dunk his head in the…well, Head.

Her actions didn't faze him though. "It means you're not important enough," he replies smoothly.

Clarisse was about to swing her fist at Percy, but Thalia caught her wrist in mid-air. "Let's not kill him yet. Chase kills him first, remember? We'll bring him back from hell and kill him a second time."

Clarisse hesitated, but put her arm down. Her face read that she was pissed that I get to kill Percy first. Of course, pirates don't follow rules, so she'd probably get to stab him before I do one day.

"Wait. You guys were talking about killing _me _yesterday_?" _Percy's eyes widened. He turned to me for an answer.

I just shrugged at him. "So? Scared?" I smirked teasingly at him, even though I wasn't looking directly at his face for several reasons. For one, I don't want thoughts of how sexy he looks with his hair, eyes, his almost shredded up shirt from some monster they've encountered on their journey before. Two, I can't have him look at my face. He'll figure out I'm a girl rather than a guy.

Percy frowned and poked my side. I accidentally let out a girly squeak. So what if I was kind of, sort of, teensy bit ticklish?

I glared at Percy. He grinned. I realized that if I snap at him, I'd have to be on Head duty until we arrive at Olympus. But sadly, he'd found his secret weapon. He held out his hands and wiggled his fingers, smirk still stuck on his face.

I bit my lip and took a step back. My eyes begged my friends for help.

Thalia, Clarisse, and Katie watched amusingly. Curse those traitors.

Percy took a step forward. I tipped my hat downwards a bit, my pivot foot ready to turn around and sprint. The next second, Percy ran to me, wiggling his fingers to freak me out. I sprinted to the crow's next and began to climb as fast as I could.

Percy had obviously followed me.

I reached the top, inside the small basket with a telescope on the floors, ready to punch Percy off if he got anywhere near me.

But unfortunately, I was too slow. He leaped into the crow's nest with me and put in me in headlock position.

Percy faked an evil laugh. "Can't ran away now, eh, Chase?"

My face turned red, extremely pissed off. Of course I can! What does he think of me as? A seagull?

I elbowed him in the stomach and stomped on his foot. But for some odd reason, he was invincible to my attacks. He pinned me down and my feather hat toppled off when we both collapsed to the ground. My heart rate increased.

My. Hat. Fell. Off.

Our eyes both widened; mine because I was scared that Percy had finally found out I was a girl, wondering if he'll hate me now; him because of realization. We both stared at each other in the eye, and his gaze slowly softened. One of his hands loosened his grip on my arm and caressed my cheek as if to check if I was what he thought I was; which was in this case, a girl. I flushed into a darker shade of red.

"You…" Percy said in confusion, knotting his eyebrows together in a cute way. "You're…oh…"

My face unconsciously leaned into Percy's touch and my eyes turning away from his, staring at the telescope instead. "You won't tell, right?" my voice abnormally weak.

I saw Percy shake his head in the corner of my eyes.

My eyelids began to droop down as Percy slowly stroked my cheek gently. For a moment it felt peaceful, and I wanted this to last a bit longer. But you know, fate hates me.

"_**HEY! YOU LOSERS UP THERE!**_" thundered a voice from below. And that shout made me come back to my senses, more alert than ever.

I pushed Percy off me and stood up to look over the edge of the crow's nest. Clarisse was glaring at me questioningly. I bit my lip and hurriedly climbed down to meet her and the other girls, trying my best to avoid Percy. My face burned when I thought of what had just happened.

"What'd he do?" Katie whispered to me in excitement as Percy climbed down with a dazed expression on his face with a small smile.

"What do you mean?" I asked, rubbing my forearm tensely, my eyes flickering from Katie to Percy each second, hoping she wouldn't find out.

Thalia frowned disapprovingly at me. "Oh, Annabeth," she says dramatically. "Seriously," she then said monotonously. "You two were up there for like, fifteen minutes. And we heard no laughing of torture."

I scowled at her words of choice as I anxiously chewed on my lip, wondering what to tell them. The truth? Nah, Clarisse would pound Percy to bits for finding out about me; Katie would encourage me to go out with him; Thalia would laugh her butt off. No. Nada.

I just casually rolled my eyes. "Nothing," I shrugged.

The three of them gave me dead looks; they didn't believe me.

"Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth," Thalia shook her head and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Then can you please explain _that_," she pointed at something behind me.

I turned around to see Percy leaning on the edge of the boat and staring oddly at the sea as if he was thinking of something and spacing out at the same time.

I turned my attention back to my friends to find them all glower at me, arms crossed, expecting a perfectly reasonable answer coming out of my mouth.

"W-well…" I trailed off. "What makes you think I had anything to do with that?" I scoffed.

"Um, because he was looking that way ever since you two came down from there," Katie gestured the crow's nest above them.

"Fine," I sighed, pretending to give up. "There was a wardrobe up there and we entered Narnia, lived there for thirty years and he came back with a cold. Toodles!" I said sarcastically before running away to the forecastle.

I plopped onto my bed and groaned into my pillow. I mean, I don't want to lie to them, but I just felt like that little moment with me and Percy can only be kept between us. Once again, I thought back to when Percy and I were up on that small wooden bucket tied to a pole. My face glowed brightly again as I shut my eyes.

I imagined myself back up there with Percy, when we were looking into each other's eyes. I know how cliché it really sounds, but I _actually_ felt myself drown in them; it was as if I was hypnotized.

Then I re-winded back to when Percy had just found out about me being a girl. I couldn't resist the smile forming on my lips when I saw that Percy's expression was shocked, but not in a bad way. He didn't look horrified or disgusted: the way he'd always look at Clarisse. His visage looked more of a tender surprise.

In my mind, I fast-forwarded to when Percy brushed my cheek lightly with his thumb. My heart skipped a beat at the memory.

I sighed happily into the pillow. And then realized how stupid I acted in front of Percy then. Since when have I inattentively been so…_girly _in my entire life? I grimaced. What if Percy thought I was weird?

I felt someone sit on my bed next to me. Without lifting my head, I spoke. "Go away Clarisse," I said through my pillow.

The person chuckled and I instantly recognized it, my ears reddening. Whoops. I wasn't my fault that I expected her to come in here and beat me up for an answer to what had happened.

"You compared _me_ with _Clarisse_?" Percy says. "Wow, thanks," he said sarcastically.

I quickly sat up and stared at Percy. "What're you doing here?" I asked curiously.

He held up my hat. "You forgot this," he waved it in front of my face.

I snatched it from his hands and hugged it against my chest. "Is that it?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, you're a girl right?" he asked nervously.

"Was that not obvious enough?" I said half-heartedly, looking away from him.

Percy shook his head. "No, no, you look like a girl. I-I mean, not like I've been checking you out or anything…well, you do look beautiful. No, that's not what I meant," he shook his head again, and I laughed lightly at his stuttering. "W-what I'm trying to say is," Percy took a deep breath. "Is that why you got so angry when I asked…you know, if you thought women were stupid?"

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously, you idiot."

"Right," Percy ducked his head down embarrassingly. "Um, sorry about that…"

I peered over at him. "Mm, that's fine," I've decided. "You didn't know." Actually, _I_ don't even know what I'm saying, really. The words just keep coming out of my mouth naturally.

Percy smiled at me, and dear god, I could've melted right there. "Thanks. And um, I also kind of assumed that you liked Clarisse…so uh, sorry about that too…"

I grinned at uneasiness; it made him look kind of charming. "That's okay too," I whispered, not realizing until now that we've both been leaning in closer by the second. Absentmindedly, I tossed my hat aside and placed my hand on his shoulder; his hand around my waist.

At the point when our lips almost brushed together, our lovely moment was ruined once again. But this time by someone who was now standing in front of the doorway; someone I've least expected.

We had already pulled our attention away from each other when we had heard the footsteps creaking down the stairs.

And dear god, I was in for some trouble when I noticed my hat still lying at the far corner of the bed. I didn't even have enough time to reach for it. Dammit, I was too caught up with the moment that I've forgotten we aren't the only ones on this boat.

"Luke," Percy says, sounding surprised as I was with his eyes wide open. Except for me, my vocal cords instantly failed me when I saw his shocked and…disturbed, scarred face.

Hell.

* * *

><p><strong>Psh, so Percy found out...Because of the hat...I know, stupid. LOL. But Annabeth's been hiding her face with that hat the entire time like some mysterious murderer... I'm so descriptive ;D<br>There may be some minor mistakes, but gimme a break. I only went through it quickly and added extra details n' ideas n' stuff 'cause, well, it's too short D:  
>But I wanted to end it there because...DUN DUN DUN. Cliffhanger! -GASP- <strong>

**But yeah, I seem to be getting 10 reviews per chapter. Huh.  
>LOL, that's funny :D<br>But just keep reviewing, yeah? I need your opinions :)**

**VVV **


	5. Chapter 5: Treasures

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**_

**If you haven't read **_**The Son of Neptune**_** yet, today's your lucky day! I've posted the website of **_**The Son of Neptune**_** eBook on my profile. Go and check it out!  
>Best thing I've ever read…and then Riordan puts a cliff-hanger.<br>Book three: The Mark of Athena, coming out in fall 2012! (Crud, I don't want to wait again…)**

_**TO ANONYMOUS REVIEWER AND TO ALL WHO WONDERS:**_

**If you're wondering about my update schedule, you can check my profile. I often update once a week, sometimes delayed because of homework, projects, studying, etc. though.  
>And yes, this fan fiction will contain Greek Mythology (duh :D).<br>I will not answer the rest of your questions Anonymous Reviewer, because then I'd be giving everything away. Nuh uh, Nuggets won't do that! D:  
>And that suggestion? They're not meeting in Olympus, but yes, I have planned on throwing in Piper, Leo, Jason, Frank, and Hazel, and a bunch of others, okay? Lots of characters. They don't appear just yet! :)<br>I have everything planned…Meh heh heh…**

* * *

><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Five (Treasures)<strong>

This is disgusting.

Apparently, Luke was okay with having me on board. But he's been calling me a "stowaway" for his amusement whenever no one was looking at us. We made an agreement that if anyone else finds out I'm a female pirate, I'll have to get thrown off the ship. And by "anyone one else," Luke meant Ethan especially.

It turns out Percy was Luke's first mate, and since Luke thinks that Percy has…an attraction towards me, he gave me the slip.

When Luke left though, Percy and I were left in an awkward silence and Percy broke it by a bunch of sarcasm once he figured out my real name.

"Stealing a sword from the Chase residence? Not so impressive now, huh?"

After I slapped him teasingly, he reminded me that he won the bet long ago.

Flashback? Oh yes.

_Percy faked an evil laugh. "Can't ran away now, eh, Chase?" _

_My face turned red, extremely pissed off. Of course I can! What does he think of me as? A seagull?_

_I elbowed him in the stomach and stomped on his foot._

Yeah, so I lost the stupid bet. And now, I'm cleaning the Head. Can someone say "ew" for me? I can't seem to open my mouth since I'm trying to hold my breath right now.

The best description I have for it: revolting. I swear, I could've vomited if I stayed there for another second. Luckily, Clarisse called me out so we could talk privately with Thalia and Katie on deck. But you know, in a way it's also unfortunate too.

"Come on, Chase," Clarisse dragged me out quickly as if I were just some irritating, light tree branch.

I held onto my hat and pressed it against my head so the wind wouldn't blow it away as Clarisse let go of my wrist right under the crow's nest. Thalia, Katie and her ganged up on me.

"Oh my god," Thalia grinned uncontrollably. "So what'd you and Percy do down there earlier?" she held in a laugh.

"Did you kiss him? You kissed him, didn't you?" Katie asked with envy.

"How could you blow your cover like that anyways?" Clarisse's voice overpowered them all.

I shut my eyes and tried to drain out their constant pestering from my mind as I sighed. Of course they knew; I wasn't wearing my hat when I came back down the crow's nest. They probably didn't notice it before since they already knew I was a girl and were used to seeing my feminine face. Percy went back up to get my hat before, and that was when they had probably figured it out.

"So?" Clarisse asked as Thalia burst into laughter.

"Oh my god!" Thalia cried, holding her stomach, trying to catch her breath. "You…Him…_Bwah-ha-hah_! You and that piece of… _ha-ha-hah!_"

I gave a dead look to Thalia. Gee, she sure is supportive, isn't she?

"What happened?" Katie shook my shoulders. "We. Need. Details."

"Details," Clarisse agreed.

"Not too much though," Katie stuck out her tongue in disgust.

I flushed. "Ew, no! What are you even thinking about?"

"What are _you_?" Katie asked me sweetly in defense as Thalia looked as if she was about to die from stomach pain, rolling around the deck.

I rolled my eyes. "Luke caught us down there," I started, and explained the entire situation to them once Thalia had quieted down. It was no use to hide it from them now. Thalia was already laughing, Katie's curious, and Clarisse is pissed. My prediction was actually very accurate. Well, it's good to know that I understand my friends very well.

"So now you'll have to clean the Head," Thalia stated very slowly before guffawing loudly again.

"You are _so _infatuated by him," Katie elbowed me with a wink.

"Am _not_," I protested. "Seriously! Stop looking at me like that. Percy's just…a friend. Kind of."

"Kind of?" Katie wiggled her eyebrows.

"What? He put me on Head duty! That jerk…" I grumbled.

"Exactly!" Clarisse patted my back encouragingly. "That's the spirit! Now go kill him."

"I said he was my _friend_," I said, a bit bewildered. "Kind of," I then added. "And he's a part of the crew, right? I can't kill him yet."

"So you're going to wait until he betrays us or something? Prissy may be a pirate, but the punk's too loyal. 'Won't do a thing against people he cares about," Clarisse rolls her eyes as if that was pathetic and weak of him.

"_Gah-ha-hah!_" Thalia continued, wiping a false tear from her eyes. "Okay, okay," Thalia gave out a happy sigh. "I'm good. Wait. Let me take that back." Thalia went back to laughing hysterically. I don't even think she was paying much attention to most of our conversation.

I rolled my eyes. I have such unusual friends. "Look, how much time's there left 'till we reach Olympus? I do _not _want to stay in _that _horrid place any longer, cleaning at that muck up," I shivered.

Katie shrugged. "Couple more days?" she guessed, shoving her hands casually into her pockets. When she did, her eyes suddenly widened. "Stoll," she growled under her breath, face turning dark. She retracted her right hand from her baggy pocket and there was some sort of sticky, pink substance gluing her fingers together.

She turned away from us and began to yell at the rest of the crew members. "WHERE THE HELL'S TRAVIS?" Her shout stopped Thalia making such an awful sound of something similar to a choking cow. Well, not exactly, but her laughter's really getting on my nerves. The boat was dead silent from the spontaneous announcement of horror. _Somebody_'s gonna die.

Beckendorf quickly pointed downwards, likely to be from fear. "Gun deck," he said immediately. I assumed Travis was trying to hide from Katie there.

Katie stormed off and everyone else went back to their conversation and games as if nothing had happened.

"So does Luke know about Thalia and Katie?" Clarisse wondered.

I shook my head. "He told me not to tell anyone else. He doesn't know who already knows my identity like you guys, though."

"Hey Chase!" Percy hollered at me from the other side of the boat. Thalia and Clarisse looked curiously over at Percy.

I groaned and pivoted to his direction. "What!" I shouted back with irritation.

Percy jogged over to me with his silly little grin. Ever since that little incident in the forecastle, we've been acting as if nothing has ever happened. "You're supposed to be cleaning, aren't ya?" he says. He seemed to be really glad about his winning.

"I'm taking a breather," I spat at him. Literally taking a breather. I can't breathe in _that _disgusting, tinyplace.

Percy scowled. "You can't take breaks," he decided after a moment.

"Then why can everyone else rest?" I questioned him.

His stiff shoulders slacked, lips into a little pout, looking at the corner of his eyes, and his eyebrows all scrunched up again as if he was thinking pretty hard. As if he found the perfect answer, his face brightened up again. "Because _I _won the bet! And I said that you have to clean the Head until we get to Olympus. We're not there yet, so no breaks."

"So…" I trailed off. "I can't sleep or eat until we get to Olympus, is what you're implying?"

Percy's face dropped again. Then his eyebrows once again knitted together. "Um…well, you and sleep and eat…" he says. "But no slacking off."

Clarisse grabbed Percy's hair and pulled it, causing Thalia to stifle a laugh at the funny sight. "You tryin' to boss Chase 'ere around?" she growled.

"Ouch! I wasn't-! Well…I wasn't, uh…" Percy hesitated. He looked confused again.

"How about," Thalia suggested. "He helps clean the place for you."

"Yeah – Wait. But _I _won the bet! Annabeth's supposed to be cleaning it!" Percy protested.

Clarisse pulled on Percy's hair harder and he yelped 'cause he said my real name aloud, and because of his egotistical mind. "Alright! Alright! Let me go, you hog!"

Clarisse glared daggers at him and reluctantly let go of his hair, but hastily snatched the back of his shirt and dragged him to the Head instead. She threw him inside as if he weighed a feather and slammed the door shut. She put a heavy barrel in front of the door. It seemed to me like he won't be getting out anytime soon.

"My eyes! They burn!" Percy screamed, knocking loudly at the door, begging it to open.

"Punk," Clarisse said to the door before walking back to us.

"Annabeth!" he begged, banging the door.

I winced. He called out my real name. Thank goodness though, no one seemed to pay any attention to us; quite a surprise.

Clarisse's eyes burned red. "That. Damned. Punk."

"Just let the poor seaweed out," I rolled my eyes.

Clarisse did as told, grudgingly and sluggishly walking back and moving the barrel away. Percy burst out of the Head, collapsing onto the floor, coughing and gasping for air. He dramatically raised his hand weakly into the air.

"God…save…me…" he says dramatically before he slumped down and pretended to be dead.

"GYAAAAHHHH!" came another voice. "HAVE MERCY! IT WAS JUST BUBBLEGUM!"

Travis came running up the stairs followed my Katie with a really, really large battle axe. She most likely found that in the gun deck somewhere.

"GET BACK HERE, STOLL! I'LL LET YOU HAVE A QUICK DEATH!" Katie offered.

The two were currently the center of attention. And apparently, Luke is pissed. He slammed open the door of the Headquarters, probably disturbed by something important since he looked extremely angry. "_YOU TWO_," Luke pointed out Travis and Katie. They stopped running after each other and stopped their movements. "_Sit_," the captain demanded.

Like dogs, they sat.

"Good," Luke nodded in approval. "Now, I have an important announcement I need to make," he claimed. "I have just finished organizing your shares of treasure. It's a part of the pirate law to give every single valuable item you have to me."

All the newcomers, including me began murmuring among the crowd.

"Treasures will be split up fairly. I've already had Ethan set up boxes and barrels for you in the forecastle, each one will have your name on it. Every time we claim gold, it will be shared evenly. The valuable items you give to me are your symbol of loyalty towards your captain, and to this ship. Understood?"

The idea seemed pretty good to me, except the only thing I have with me is my sword. And it's my only memory of my old home; though I wouldn't call it much of a home.

Luke came down the steps as we gave away whatever we had on ourselves to Luke. The old members of the crew didn't have to do this since they already have before. So Clarisse took this the chance to shove Percy back into the Head to suffocate again.

Conner sadly gave Luke his water balloons (no idea when or where he got those from; best not to know); Travis his pack of bubble-gum; Nico his bubble wrap; Beckendorf his hammer; Thalia, a sewing needle (Luke said to hand over her hat too, but she protested. Luke quickly gave up, probably figured out her secret already); Katie, a hairband (caused a bit of suspicion to everyone else, but because of this, Luke strangely didn't ask her for her hat); Grover his wooden reed pipes.

"What the hell's this?" Luke held the object up close to his face.

"R-reed pipes, sir," Grover bleated nervously.

"Plays music?" Luke guessed, and Grover gave a hurried nod. Luke nicked off a piece of twine from it, and tossed the pipes back to Grover. "You can keep that. This'll be your symbol of loyalty," he waved the small twine piece in front of him, and then pocketing it.

Luke probably thought the pipes were as useless as the twine.

Luke soon came to me and I hesitated before handing over my sword. Luke looked astonished by the sword, as if it cost a fortune to buy this (which it was). He realized that I've stolen it and somehow has a new, deep respect for me.

"Not bad, Chase," he nodded his head, taking my sword.

Only Percy knew I stole from my own house, except that he's too preoccupied by the stench of the powerful and oh mighty Head.

"Now," he says once everyone's treasures were collected. He put them in a pile beside him. "I want all of you to go downstairs and take a look at your treasure container. There'll be a bit of something in there for each of you."

Almost everyone dashed off. I was about to too, but Luke called me. "You stay," he says.

So doing as told, we were the only two left on the deck.

"I wanted to give this to you personally," Luke told me. He held out a knife, blade triangular shaped. "It's made from celestial bronze. Very rare material. Only the smart and wise can use a blade like this professionally. I'm sure you can," he complimented.

"Thank you," I said, amazed. I gently took the dagger from him and examined it. It was well polished; I could see my reflection through it. It even shined brightly from the sun, and the blade looked extremely sharp. It fit better in my hands rather than that large sword.

I was caught with surprise when Luke kissed my forehead. My face began to heat up. "That's another present from me" Luke winked. He then left back to his headquarters, leaving me completely dazed and confused.

Why on earth would he kiss my forehead when he said so himself, that he "knew" Percy was in some way attracted to me?

Then I remembered that Percy was still stuck inside the Head. The barrel wasn't blocking the door, and it was silent; no screams or shouts of burning eyes. Maybe, luckily, Percy was downstairs with the rest of the crew. I sure hoped Percy didn't overhear us. He would become skeptical about my relationship with Luke.

No, I shouldn't be worried about that. We're just friends, right? What happened before was the past; nothing. I mean, Percy only sees me as a friend too. That almost-kiss, I dare mention, was a complete accident.

I stared at the dagger I had practically forgotten was still in my hands. I smiled slightly. This is an alright beginning, no? Being a pirate can't be that tough.

But of course, everything comes with a price to pay. It seems that having girls on this ship really did meant bad luck; or in better words, having both girls and boys together. Being an adventurous, female pirate seemed to also mean drama on a pirate ship for the Fates.

I swear, they don't like us. Not one bit. That, or the gods cursed us for the fun of it. Oh yes, jolly fun.  
>I wonder what else they'd do to ruin my life.<p>

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><p><strong>REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!<br>Sorry for the late update, but unfortunately, I've got a lot of tests comin' up; that means more homework by the way. Plus studying. Gaaah...  
>But yeah, here it is! Hope you enjoyed it...without any edits...ha-ha...<strong>

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! **


	6. Chapter 6: I Fear

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Six (I Fear)<strong>

When I arrived in the forecastle, I saw no sight of Percy. Oddly, I kept feeling a bit nervous whenever I thought about that.

Thalia bumped into me. "Hey!" she says in that fake sore sounding voice. "We've been lookin' for ya! Come on! Check out the loots!"

She took me over to my bunk and dragged out a box from under it. Inside was a handful of gold and priceless objects; even a small diamond. But what interested me the most was the silver heart-shaped locket I found peeking out of the tiny heap of treasures.

"Whoa," Thalia's eyes glimmered, whispering in her normal voice. "You've got cooler stuff than I did. I put my box next to yours for safe keeping by the way," she says, pulling it out.

She had an opal, some quartz, and a few gold coins followed by a jar of some nice looking jellybeans. To me, _that _was real treasure. I can't stand eating mud and rocks all day.

"Want a jellybean?" Thalia offered, and I nodded my head vigorously.

She slowly popped open the jar and passed me one. I plopped it into my mouth and tasted sweet strawberries. I felt as if I were in heaven.

Thalia slid the jar inside her pocket. "In case I get hungry," she says; but I think it's because it's to hide it from Travis and Conner, those sneaky little brats.

Thalia went over to watch the fight with Pollux and Katie. Sadly, the axe belonged to Pollux, and Katie didn't want to return it until Travis was properly slaughtered. Who, by the way, was watching fearfully and curled up in a corner waiting for his fate to be decided.

I dug a bit in my little pile of gold and picked up the locket. It was beautifully decorated, a nice wavy pattern that looked like a tree with a small debossed owl on it. I wonder how he knew I liked owls, or maybe he gave it to me without knowing. I opened it to find a small piece of paper quietly land back into my box. I gently took the delicate small ripped off piece of paper with my fingers and read a single word that almost made my heart melt (which wasn't supposed to happen).

"_Percy,_" I read in a whisper, a smile playing on my lips.

And speak of the devil, he appears, just coming down from the steps. He grinned when he saw me, but didn't come over to say hello like I've expected him to. He saw the locket in my hands and blushed, which I found adorable. Maybe I can thank him later.

I watched as Percy went over to his bunk and pull out his own box. I realized he had more gold and diamonds than all of us newcomers together. I figured he probably grabbed the locket for me from there.

I shoved my box away, and stuffed the paper back in the locket which was kept safely in my hand. I took another quick look around.

"Nah way!" Pollux slurred as he staggered. "That's mine!"

"I'd give it back if you were sober enough! But unfortunately, you're not! I'll hold on to it until you're able to take this without swinging it around like a maniac!" Katie spat. "Plus I need a weapon," she mumbled under her breath.

"Ugh," Pollux hiccupped, and then taking a swig of some rum again before continuing their argument.

Conner was reassuring his brother that Katie, or to them, Kit, was too tiny to beat him up; Beckendorf and Grover having a small conversation with Percy as he gave some gold to each of them as they protested. Nico snored with Thalia sitting near him, watching the amusing fight going on with Pollux and Katie. Ethan was napping silently on his bed; Chris was making lunch.

Clarisse was sharpening her sword on her bunk, which was next to mine. I went over to her and sat on her bed. "Percy's got a lot of loot," I commented, though I wasn't interested in the treasure. I tried to keep my eyes on it, but it kept wandering over to Percy.

"Tch, and he's sharing it," Clarisse said as if it was disgusting. "He's too considerate. I don't even understand how he became a pirate."

"You've been working with him for a long time, haven't you?" I asked.

Clarisse shook her head. "I was only here for the first few months. Percy was here earlier, with Luke from the start. I didn't quite see him in serious action before," she shrugged. "He'd probably die," she thought optimistically.

I swung my legs carelessly. "So he has more treasure than you do?"

Clarisse numbly nodded her head, glaring at Percy before her attention returned to her sword.

"Say, what do you think of Chris?" I randomly asked a minute later. Clarisse seemed startled by the question.

"He's nice," she muttered. "He convinced Luke to let me be a part of the group. Luke gave in even though most didn't agree. But he was captain and it was final. It's how I became an Andromeda Pirate. Without Chris, I wouldn't be able stand a chance. He's good with words, you know?"

It seemed surreal to hear Clarisse talk in a soft, dreamy kind of voice. I was rather flabbergasted.

"What?" she recovered from her weird state, growling angrily at me.

"Nothing, nothing," I waved my hands in the air to show that they were clean.

Clarisse grunted, took a quick glance at Chris before returning to her already sharp sword. I was afraid for a moment that she was going to threaten me with it, but she kept quiet.

My eyes, once again, naturally went over to Percy. Beckendorf and Grover were happily thanking him as Percy just grinned, a bit embarrassed. Percy stretched his arms for a bit, and I got freaked out. A completely random thought how wonderful it'd be if I were in those arms immediately teleported into my head. My heart thumped and I looked away from him, trying to pull my hat so low that he wouldn't even notice my existence. It was an awfully strange feeling; I've never felt like this before towards someone.

I quietly snuck over to my bunk, trying to get over there undetected by Percy. Luckily, he was busy poking at Ethan's feet with a stick right now. Ethan was mad. I don't need to get into more details.

I lay down on my bed, feeling my face grow warm, leveling out the sounds around me. Slowly I uncurled my fingers from its original fist form from before, exposing the gorgeous locket.

It was probably just trash to Percy; maybe he didn't want it and gave it to me. But I couldn't shake off the feeling of…I don't even know what the feeling was. Hope? I think it is. I felt frustrated. Hope for what? I was never good with feelings, only numbers.

All of sudden, reality came back to me. I heard someone trying to beat the crap out of the other. I hastily sat up, eyes wide as I watched Ethan punch Percy in the stomach, probably for the tenth time. He was covered in bruises and was lying limply on the floor. Percy didn't even fight back, and no one was willing to interfere.

Without thinking (I've been doing that a lot lately, which I must inform you, is not normal), I ran over to Percy who weakly propped himself up as I kneeled by his side. Percy merely grinned at Ethan like he didn't even realize I was there. There's a wish come true, I thought bitterly.

"That all you got?" he asked cheekily. I've got a funny feeling that Percy likes to get in trouble a lot. Oddly, I also feel that this situation was because Percy started it, and purposely at that too.

Ethan's eyes burned blindingly bright red. He was about to give Percy another fist-in-the-face-buffet, but I caught it before it landed painfully on Percy's cheek.

Ethan glared at me. "What do you think you're doing? Perseus can fight his own fights," he hissed venomously at me as I glared at him from under my hat.

I kicked his face.

Well, I didn't mean to, okay? I guess it was just reflex?

The side of Ethan's head was bleeding and there was a dent on the floor where his head had landed. He was unconscious. Percy gave me a bewildered look. In fact, I was shocked myself; I didn't know I could even do that. I guess being treated like a doll gives limits you to kicking a person to a close death.

"Whoa," Percy said. "I know now not to mess with you." He turned his head over to Ethan's limp body. His incredibly charming (not like I'll admit it) smile beamed up at me, but soon faded away. "You didn't have to do that, you know?" he says seriously all of a sudden, in a low voice.

"Ugh, I think you killed him," Clarisse said, wrinkling up her nose at Ethan.

"Oh, thank god," Thalia sighed in relief. "I don't like that dude."

Percy cringed at the sight of Ethan. "I have to treat him now. I'm usually the person trying to heal everyone's wounds here. So don't get yourself beat; it'll save me less work," he sighed.

I raised a brow at him. "Hypocrite," I said.

Percy just grinned and winked, causing butterflies in my stomach to flutter; I didn't show it though. I was glaring at him teasingly.

"You're the one who gave me extra work too," Percy says, standing up.

"Ooh, and I think Luke's gunna be pissed," Beckendorf added with a grimace, staring at the blood beginning to stain on the floor.

"Psh, he'll survive. He's not losing a lot of blood anyways," Percy shrugged as he dragged Ethan to his bed.

"I swear, it's like you _want _to get punched every day," Clarisse snarled.

Percy pouted. "You people just get irritated by me easily."

"LIAR!" Pollux accused before setting himself in a long session of guffawing like a monkey. I've never seen someone so drunk before in my life. In fact, I don't even think Pollux knows what our conversation was about.

Percy just smirked. "Maybe," I heard him mutter as he wrapped a bandage around Ethan's head that he took out from his ragged, leathery vest pocket. He probably carries medical stuff around him 24/7. "Eh, well, I'm gonna check on Luke now."

We all watched Percy dash off. I kept my eyes glued to the direction he left.

"You know, I really do think Percy's pretty cool," Conner nodded his head in approval and his brother high-fived him.

"He doesn't fight back," Clarisse gagged.

"Is that all you care about?" Katie rolled her eyes. It was probably a habit for her. She was still holding onto Pollux's axe. I couldn't tell who was more violent, Clarisse or Katie?

"Hey, I'll be right back," I soon decided. I was growing suspicious of Percy's actions.

Without bothering to hear everyone else's reply or permission (though pirates hardly care about that though, right?), I left to follow Percy.

The forecastle was on the second level of the ship, same level as the gun deck. The main deck was at the top, and at the bottom, I had no clue. Of course, since Percy said he'd visit Luke, I've decided to look for him in the captain's quarters. But before I could head up to the main deck, I heard footsteps somewhere to my left. I quickly discarded the idea of going to captain's quarters and figured I should follow the sound of those footsteps instead.

The sound was headed down the stairs to the deepest part of the ship. I sucked in a deep breath and tiptoed down to follow the mysterious person. It was dark, cold and dusty, and I almost sneezed but I held it in when I saw Percy's silhouette figure. He was lighting up an oil lamp. He held it up to shine the place, so I hid behind a barrel.

I began to freak. There were spider webs _everywhere_, collecting flies that are now corpses and covered in dust. Obviously, I knew that spider webs equal spiders. And I _hate _spiders; absolutely terrified of them too. Yes, I have arachnophobia. I've always had this strange feeling that spiders are out to get me; I know it sound immature and unlikely, but it true! I found a large spider on my bedroom wall this one time when I was really young and it kept _staring _at me. When I jumped out of my bed and ran out the door, the spider _followed_. My dad killed it, thankfully. But ever since then, I began to notice other spiders following and glaring holes through my back as if they want me dead.

Instead of thinking of spiders, I tried my best to focus on something else; I even let myself try to stare at Percy in a dreamy way, but my mind was stuck on alert for eight-legged creatures.

I couldn't stop twitching and turning around to check that there would be no arachnids behind me, but I was able to also keep some of my attention on Percy.

He walked past the wine rack and over to some barrels. Placing down the oil lamp, he opened the top revealing…a plain old barrel filled with water. Percy looked around as if to check that no one was down here with him; fortunately, he didn't see me.

He placed his hands above the water and concentrated hard on something. Curiously, I watched, but nothing happened for the first few seconds. I was flabbergasted when I saw that the water in the barrel began to swirl. The water looked as if it was being pulled upwards until Percy had somehow magically extracted a small blobby portion of the water; it looked like a raindrop rewinding, going back into the air. It levitated above the palm of his hands and swirled until it shaped into a perfect sphere.

I gapped, but quickly shut my mouth before some hairy creature crawls into my mouth. I almost vomited by the thought.

Percy slowly moved the position of his hands so that it looked like he was about to clap. The water ball was levitating in between. And yeah, turns out it did clap his hands, squishing the water ball, causing it to disappear rather than splash like I've expected it to.

It was like his skin _absorbed _the water; his bruises vanished and he looked ten times healthier as if he'd been eating chocolate chip cookies rather that our usual meals. I'm practically craving for some cookies right now; any dessert actually.

Percy looked satisfied with himself and closed the barrel.

And then I felt it.

Something was crawling on my _arm_. Now it was like a _nightmare_ come true.

I tried not to squeak and stayed still, praying that whatever it was would get off of me. But it didn't; it kept crawling and crawling until it was on my forearm. Just when Percy picked up the oil lamp, I sucked up the courage to look at the mysterious critter just as the light shone on me.

And then I gave a shrill scream, blood drained from my face. Though, it was muffled since I forced myself to shut my mouth really tight, not wanting that thing in my mouth.

But Percy heard it; he flinched and dropped the lamp. At least, I think that's what he dropped. I couldn't exactly see since my eyes were shut too. It sounded like Percy picked up the lamp and rushed over to me, hearing his footsteps growing louder.

"Annabeth? What're you doing here?" he asked worriedly, the sound of the lamp being placed on the ground with a _clink_.

I didn't answer; I just sat there in my squatted position and shook in fear. The spider was now on my neck. I craned my neck so that he could see the horrid spider.

Thankfully, he got the message. Percy flicked it off.

I let out a shaky breath and willed myself to open my eyes just to find green ones staring at mine.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked me, his hand resting on my neck where the spider was.

The blood came back to my face and I felt it radiating heat. I nodded my head weakly, unable to speak.

Percy took my hand and helped my stand up; I staggered as if I were as intoxicated as Pollux. Without a word, Percy let me lean on him as he walked me up the stairs. Even though I didn't feel as weak (I hate that feeling) as before, and I could've managed to walk myself, I let Percy lead me up to the main deck so we could breathe in some fresh salty air to help me feel better.

Percy's arm was around my waist, and we were staring out into the vast and open sea for a few minutes now.

"Did you follow me down there?" Percy finally spoke.

Crap. At least I know that I'm not as sneaky as the Stolls.

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><p><strong>I know, I know. Cruddy chapter, didn't edit, but hey, I updated, yeah?<br>I should update this weekend too, I'm sorry this one was a day late! I had homework ;^;  
><strong>

**PLEASE REVIEW!  
>If you think it was awesome: REVIEW!<br>If you think it sucks: REVIEW!  
>If you think I should go to hell for this late update: REVIEW!<br>REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!~  
>Let the word get stuck in your head... <strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Revealed Secrets

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.  
>Oh ho ho ho, my dear readers. There are many unexpected surprises in this story. But – wait a minute, I shouldn't tell you guys. That'll ruin my fun. Pfft. BWA HAHAHAHAHA. I'm sorry. I just have amazing ideas for this story. :')<br>AND HEY, WHAT HAPPENED TO MY 10 REVIEWS PER UPDATE, HUH? Practically two weeks and so far, only NINE? You disappoint me… I purposely waited until I got my ten reviews. :'(  
>Ah well, here it is anyways. (But I didn't edit.)<strong>

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Seven (Revealed Secrets)<strong>

I look down at my feet and unconsciously played with the locket I had forgotten was still clenched tightly in my hands.

"I was curious," I just mumbled. "You _did_ just walk off suddenly, and I heard someone going downstairs, so I just went to check what was going on," I answered truthfully.

Percy grimaced. "So did you see?" Percy walked closer behind me and took my hand. He opened it to retrieve the necklace, helping me tie it around my neck, which I found very sweet of him.

"The water?" I guessed, staring at the sea. I turned around to face him after he put the necklace on. "Yeah…" I tucked a stray strand of hair into my hat.

He ran his fingers through his hair a few times before he let out a large sigh. "So?" he asked somewhat impatiently.

Not understanding his question that lacked details, I raised an eyebrow at him in a wondering manner.

"Do you, you know, think I'm a freak or something?" he said nervously.

I frowned, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. So I thought of what Percy might say if I were in his situation. "Why would you be a freak? If you sprouted wings, claimed you can fly, and breathe out poisonous unicorns and deadly rainbow flames, _then _you'd be a freak."

Percy blinked at me before laughing uncontrollably, causing me to crack up a smile, happy that it worked. He fell back onto the floor, lying down as he laughed, and I lay down next to him. When he calmed down, he let out another breath, but of happiness. "Thanks," he grinned, turning towards me.

I just shrugged as if it was no big deal and propped myself up. "But how'd you do it?" I wondered. Such powers are rare. I was absolutely fascinated by the fact that he could do such things. I've heard there was a famous pirate who could control waters, but I never thought it would be Percy.

Percy hesitated but then looked as if he was thinking really hard. "Well," he started. "Ever since I was little I was able to do something like that, I guess."

"Like some sort of gift?" I asked.

Percy nodded. "I can sort of do whatever I want with water. I'm still trying to practice healing with it."

"So _that_'s why you get yourself beat up?" I muttered thoughtfully. "You know if you get hurt and then magically come out of nowhere looking as if you came back looking good as new, wouldn't that give away your secret?"

Percy paused. "I never really thought of that," he said. "A lot of people must really be stupid on this ship then. They still haven't noticed, I think. Though, Luke knows. It's why he let me be a part of this crew."

"Because you can heal yourself with water?" I said.

"Because I can do a lot of stuff with water," Percy corrected. "I can tell the exact coordinates of where we are right now when we're at sea; I can help the ship sail with or without wind; I can even _breathe _in water so I can find treasures underneath. Luke thinks I'm useful so he first recruited me to be his first mate."

I let it sink in, still hard to believe that _Percy _of all people could do that. Pirates with unimaginable powers are really extraordinary. In fact, there was an old rumor of this man named Kronos, almost like an actual _god_ (or titan since he was named after one) who used to be a famous pirate; he could, ironically, control _time_, which was pretty amazing in fact. He used to be the most wanted pirate out there, but one day, he vanished and was never heard of again. I was told it was a true story. I wondered how many other people out there had other similar powers like that.

"But why'd you accept Luke's offer to become a pirate?" I asked him.

"It was a long time ago; I was twelve. I used to live with my mom in small house by a beach. I also lived with my _stepdad_," he said with disgust. "His name was Gabe Ugliano, but I called him Smelly Gabe," he smiled, but then scowled. "He treated us horribly; my mom only married him for money since we were poor. I always fought back at Gabe, but he was always stronger than me. So one day, my mom and I went out to the beach. The memory was kind of hazy, but that time was when I first discovered about my powers. I was able to make ripples in the water and I showed it to my mom. She said I was special.

"Anyways, Luke was on a rowboat and landed on our beach that day. He looked weak so we brought him food and stuff; let him stay for a few days until he felt better since Gabe was on a business trip. We became friends, and he told me that he ran from home 'cause he had a crazy mother or something. He said he wanted to be a pirate so he can earn lots of gold and become famous. I thought that if I became a pirate, I'd be able to earn money for my mom and she'd be able to dump that Smelly Gabe and be free. Luke said I was too weak, so I showed him the ripples I could make in the water. Luke then decided that he'll let me be a part of his crew if I continue to practice my powers.

"I was going to tell my mom that I wanted to be a pirate, but Luke told me a true pirate doesn't go to his mother, that a pirate must only be loyal to his captain and his crewmates. So at night, I wrote a message to my mom in the sand saying that I was going to help earn money for her. I left with Luke on that rowboat and sailed off," he ended the story.

"That was the last time you saw your mother?"

Percy sighed. "Yeah, and looking back, I regret it. I'm able to send letters to her, but she can't send any back to me since she doesn't know where I am 'cause we're always traveling."

"I wanted to be a pirate because my dad and my stepmom never let me out of the house," I said bitterly. "I've always dreamed of the outside world and going on adventures. So I ran away, stole that sword, and went to that bar where you recruited me."

"And Luke took that sword away from you, right?" Percy remembered. "Your only memory of home?"

"It wasn't home," I corrected him. "It was a cage."

Percy nodded slowly. His expression turned cold and his shoulders became stiff. "Luke gave you something, right?"

I blinked. So he did know about it. Sitting up, I took out the dagger I hid in my boot and showed it to Percy. "This knife," I said.

Percy just stared at it blankly as if he didn't care much about it. "What else?"

What did that mean? Luke didn't give me anything else…other than that kiss. "You were still in the Head at the time," I stated.

"What else did he give you?" Percy demanded an answer, ignoring what I had said.

"Nothing!" I lied, starting to feel angry. Why does Percy have to be so nosy?

"Fine then," Percy growled, and stood up. "I'm leaving," I heard him mutter as he left back down the stairs.

"Ugh!" I shouted in frustration, pulling down my hat to hide myself from the troubles once he had disappeared. Footsteps came up to me just after.

"You okay?" asked Luke. I knew his voice instantly, not needing to turn around to know who it was.

"I'm fine," I said angrily, hoping he'd leave me alone as I glared intently at the sea. But Luke just sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulder so that I'd lean on his. I didn't feel like fighting so I let him.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked me softly.

"I'm not talking about it," I replied, though I could hardly understand what had happened. Percy just stormed off like that 'cause he wanted to know what Luke gave me. Was he jealous or something?

Suddenly, my anger started to fade away quickly. What if Percy _was _jealous?

"Well, something _is _wrong," Luke said worriedly, his icy blue eyes staring into mine.

"I'm fine," I repeated, sighing. I had a funny feeling someone was watching us, but I didn't bother to turn around and check. Whoever it was, the person wasn't glaring intensely through my soul, or else I'd have felt shivers down my spine. I pushed myself away from Luke just in case.

"It's Percy, right?" Luke guessed. "I don't want you to be near him. He's trouble. Though Percy may not look like it, he can be very dangerous," he warned me.

I gave Luke a disbelieving look. "Percy's not dangerous."

"You don't know him, Annabeth. I just want you to be safe; I'm only warning you. Be careful around him, okay? Make sure you stick by my side and I'll promise to protect you. That dagger I gave you could be proof for that."

I felt touched that Luke cared so much about me; much better than Percy. I still don't understand him. "Thanks," I muttered to Luke as he got up.

"If you need help with anything, you're free to enter my headquarters whenever you like, okay?"

I just nodded before Luke left.

Thinking I should get back to work, I walked over to the Head where I was supposed to be. I held my breath and embraced myself for the stench for what's to come, but on the other side of the door, I realized it was _clean_. Well, not completely, but it didn't stink much, the floor wasn't muddy, and the air wasn't green.

I remembered that Percy eavesdropped on Luke and I before, and he came downstairs late. Percy had special water powers that would've cleaned this place up pretty quickly. He didn't do this, did he?

I felt guilty. Maybe I should've told him that Luke kissed me. But he didn't have to be so nosy.

I picked up the mop and decided I should tidy up this place a little more, leaving the door open for fresh air. So far, I've already spent sixteen minutes and twelve seconds drowning myself with thoughts. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, I was surprised to find Nico; one of those people I've never even talked to. Putting the puzzle pieces together, he must've been the one watching Luke and I the entire time.

"Pfft," he held in a smirk. Nico had more hair than Percy; messier too. His dark hair, eyes, and olive skin gave an uncomfortable aura. "I heard you're on Head duty 'till we get to Olympus. Need help?"

I looked at him suspiciously. "You don't seem like the type of person to help people without a catch."

"So you can tell," Nico nodded his head slowly. "I've, ah, heard you're on good terms with our captain."

"And?" I urged him to go on, gripping on my mop. He hasn't found out to, has he? I tried my best to keep my hopes high.

"Well, there are rumors that Luke Castellan has a lot of…riches hidden on this particular ship." I let out a mental sigh. "Don't tell him, but I've already snuck around the captain's quarters and found nothing I need," Nico said, and then began to stare at me as if he wanted me to do something.

Understanding quickly, I raised my right hand. "I swear I won't tell Luke Castellan about your little evil plans."

"Good," Nico approved. "I want you to be my ally since you seem trustable."

"Isn't Percy trustable?" I blurted without a second thought.

"He is, I've talked to him, but he's too close with Luke. I don't think he'll do anything to go against him."

"Going against him? Did Luke do anything to you?" I questioned.

"He raided my village," Nico put bluntly. "My mother and sister died because he killed them before stealing our possessions. I was the only one who survived, but apparently Luke doesn't remember my last name."

"Oh," I said lamely. "So you want revenge," I stated. "And you're also after something else," I quickly added, remembering how Nico was trying to look for something from Luke.

"So you're smart," Nico says brightly. "Well, Luke has a map, to ah, certain place I need to get to; classified information. In return, ah, you make your price."

I thought for a short moment. Should I really betray Luke? If I do, I'd betray Percy too, right? And Luke was kind enough to let me stay on this ship. "Well, I'm not after gold. I already have what I want; I'm a pirate. However…" I thought for another moment. I've already sworn loyalty to Luke and this ship. Luke told me he'd protect me if I stayed by his side. "No, I'm sorry. I can't help you; but I won't tell either."

I went back to the mopping, but Nico still stood by the door. "I'm looking for the map to the underworld," he said a few silent minutes later.

I stopped. "The underworld?" I asked. I've heard of a tale, that it's where the dead go to. Was there such a map?

"It was my dad's map, but Luke stole it after taking away my sister's and my mom's life. I want it back to rescue them; bring them back to life."

"That's illegal!" I say suddenly. I had just remembered reading such a book about this map. Bringing back the dead disrupts the balance of the living. If one person was brought to life, somewhere in the world, someone must die to take its place.

"I don't care," Nico growled. "I want my family back."

"What about your dad?" I reasoned with him. "Isn't he your family?"

"My dad left us," Nico argued. "To become a pirate," he muttered.

"Then why are you following his footsteps?" I questioned.

"I'm not!" he protested. "I'm doing this for my family. I'm not leaving them like he did. If you're not helping, then fine," Nico spat. He stormed off.

Never have I thought, that other pirates on this ship has their own life problems; much worse than mine.

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><p><strong>Really? Okay, I'll update next weekend if I get 11 reviews, alright? If I get more, I may update earlier. Less, I'll probably update a day or two later than it's supposed to be. Zero, dang, you get none. I know, I know, am I being too mean? Psh, of course not! I'm losing one more reviews than usual! <em>You<em> readers are being mean to me ;^;  
>SO MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW! Please don't disappoint me.<strong>

**REVIEW, DAMN IT. **


	8. Chapter 8: Tests and Duties

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.  
>Are the characters demigods? That will be kept a secret…for now… Meh heh heh…<br>Oh, and YOU READERS ARE AWESOME. You almost made me cry from happiness; thank you all so much for your reviews! They mean a lot to me~  
>Gosh, I sound like a loner…<br>By the way, I forgot to mention this in my two previous chapters, but I was a pirate for Halloween, ironically. Ha-ha.**

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Eight (Tests and Duties)<strong>

"Land ahoy!" Ethan called from above.

It was the next morning and everyone was working, and Ethan's duty was to be on the crow's nest to detect any other ships or land with a telescope. Once Ethan made the call however, everyone dashed over to the edge of the boat, including myself to take a look at Olympus.

From the distance we're at, it looked so tiny, but I could see some buildings in white and gold. It easily stood out. I've heard that the location of Olympus can only be found by pirates, merchants, and patrons, so certain privateers and the pirate hunters wouldn't be able to discover the place by accident or on purpose; there was an old pirate's tale that said powerful magic was casted on the city.

"Alright, mates!" Luke called from behind the wheel. He gave a signal to Pollux; he went up and took the wheel as Luke walked in front of us. I didn't really think it was a good idea to let Pollux steer the ship, but…I guess our captain trusts him. "We still haven't officially assigned our duties yet."

"You mean, we have to do other stuff rather than cleaning?" Conner said.

"They're not even more tiring jobs, are they?" Travis added.

"Ethan," Luke ignored the Stolls, "has been in charge with the crow's nest. Everyone's okay with that, right?"

A lot of people cocked their heads to the side. Clarisse just yawned as she watched us, standing beside Chris who was mopping. Percy was nowhere to be seen.

"We're allowed to vote; pirate's law that we have democracy to our duties. Pirates also vote for their captains," I said to clarify things.

"Oooh," a lot of people replied.

"I'm fine with that," Beckendorf says.

"Um, but he's got an eye patch," Travis protested.

"Can he even see properly?" Conner looked up curiously at Ethan.

"Best eye sight, actually," Luke said. "His other eye got popped out during a battle, but he can still see pretty well."

"Ew," Katie wrinkled nose.

"So is everyone on agreement to let Ethan stay on his position?"

Everyone nodded in reply.

"Alright, next we have Clarisse as the gunner. She's in charge of caring for the guns, training pirates to use guns, and commands gun crew during battles. Any protests there?"

Everyone shook their head fearfully when Clarisse glared at us evilly from behind Luke who didn't really take notice.

"Percy has _three _roles. He's the quartermaster, navigator, and surgeon. We can have two people take one of his places," Luke announced.

Everyone stayed quiet.

I sighed. "The quartermaster is in charge of mediating arguments between pirates, selected members of the boarding party, oversaw captured gold and riches, kept an accounting of and disbursed each man's share of the treasure and any food and drink taken, and took command of any prize the pirates opted to keep for themselves. The surgeon's basically the doctor," I explained for everyone. "You should know what a navigator is."

Luke looked impressed. "Well, why don't you be the navigator, then?" he asked me. "You seem to be a person who's good with directions."

I was a bit startled. "W-well, isn't Percy better with that?" I argued.

Luke gave a slight frown. "Then the quartermaster. Percy was never really good with numbers or writing. He's dyslexic; poor boy."

"I'm dyslexic too," I deadpanned, but I was also surprised to know Percy has the same disorder as I did.

"Oh, well, it's just that you seemed smart enough to take on that job," Luke said frantically. "You're good at math, right?"

I nodded my head. "I can still write too, even though it's a bit challenging for me," I also added.

"Then how about it?" Luke suggested. "You like challenges?"

"Is it alright with Percy?" I wondered aloud.

"Don't worry; it'll be fine. It'll give Percy less work to do," Luke reassured me.

I bit my lip. "I guess…"

"Great! Now, we also need to assign a cook. What about you, Grover?"

Grover squeaked. "M-me?"

"Well, you're missing two legs, unfortunately. You won't be able to do well in battle, but most pirates with disorders work behind the scenes. You'll still get your share if we encounter any treasures."

Grover looked relieved. "I don't need to fight? Alright, I'm in."

"We also need a carpenter," Luke started, but Beckendorf's hand shot up before he could say anymore. "Amazing! You're good with building, no? I heard from Percy that you've even got skills to create weapons."

"Yes, sir," Beckendorf says proudly, his face radiating with light.

"Anyone want to take either a navigator or surgeon? Does everyone agree Percy can handle those?"

A murmur of agreement went through the small crowd. It seems that no one else was good with directions or becoming a surgeon.

"Ah, and last but not least, the entertainers," Luke said.

"They encourage their team and try to demoralize the other when in battle," I added.

"And for our amusement, they can be clowns too. Pollux is one of them. Anyone else want to join them?"

Conner elbowed his brother with a silly grin and they both raised their hands. "Aye! Us!" they chanted.

"Good, good!" Luke beamed. He seemed pretty happy. "Everyone else, Clarisse will take charge of you."

Clarisse walked up to us with her arms crossed as Luke strut back to his quarters. "Alright, I'm gonna have to test your skills with fighting. Who wants to try and fight me first?"

Conner boldly pushed Travis up for the fun of it; already playing their entertainer role every well. Travis's eyes widened and tried to run away, but Clarisse snatched the back of his shirt just in time.

"Don't hold back," Clarisse said before putting him in a choke hold. "Why aren't you struggling!" she demanded, though Travis obviously was. He was trying to gasp for air and his face was turning purple.

"Clarisse, let him go," Katie panicked when she saw his face.

Though giving her a questioning look, Clarisse did as told. "Then how about you and I, one on one? Chris brought out the weapon rack for me," she gestured to the rack that is now beside us. Chris stood next to it, now trying to polish the weapons. "Yours to pick."

Katie was hesitant, but she walked up to pick a weapon of her choice. Katie took a long sword, which I immediately knew was not suited for her. She stood in a fighting stance and waited for Clarisse to make first strike. Knowing her choice of weapons and her weak stance, it was obvious to me that she had no experience in sword fighting whatsoever.

Clarisse just cracked her knuckles and took out a handgun. Now _this _was obvious to everyone; there was no way Katie has the skills to dodge any bullets. Even Katie herself looked trouble, and that was an understatement.

Nervous, Katie gripped her sword tightly, deciding to make first hit. Her sword was wobbly as she tried to hack at Clarisse violently. Clarisse dodged it roughly. Her envision, I noticed, wasn't her strongest ability. I kept that note in mind.

Katie's eyes widened when Clarisse loaded her gun and quickly aimed, but her shot missed; Travis shoved Clarisse away just when she was about to pull the trigger.

Katie's hands were shaking and her skin was sickly pale as Clarisse scolded (more like screamed at) Travis for ruining everything.

"But that's bravery, isn't it?" Chris suggested before Clarisse could punch the clown's face. "Travis protected Kit. It's not bad of him."

Clarisse frowned. "But here's the thing about pirates, kiddies," she tells us. "On this ship, it's every man for himself."

"And women are our slaves!" Pollux guffawed as he leaned on steering wheel with his cherry red cheeks.

Clarisse's face turned into a bloody shade of red, as did I, Thalia, and Katie. "Excuse me?" Thalia says in a deadly tone of voice.

Clarisse cracked her knuckles. "I think he asked for death, don't you agree, Tailor?"

"Oh yes," Thalia laughed manically. "We'd be happy to fulfill that wish of his."

Everyone backed up from them but Katie and I. We just stared at Pollux in hatred.

Just at that moment, Percy had emerged from below, walking up the stairs with some crackers in his mouth. "What'd I miss?" he asked us.

Katie gave Percy a 'duh' look.

Percy turned to Clarisse and Thalia, then to Pollux. "Oh."

"Oi! Ay! Percy Pants! Bwa ha-ha!" Pollux laughed at the name he gave him. "What're you doing down there, eh? Ha-ha! Making out with your imaginary girlfriend?"

Percy flushed. "I don't have a girlfriend!"

"Oh ho ho!" Pollux snorted. He didn't say anything after that; Pollux fell asleep.

Percy frowned disapprovingly at him. "I'll take the wheel," I heard him mutter. He pushed Pollux and waited until he slid off the wheel so he would be able to hold it without him in the way.

I felt as if Percy poked my heart with a pin; he didn't even acknowledge me. But if he wanted to play it that way, then fine. I'll play along with it too.

"Alright, Kitty, you're out. You suck with swords. Once we reach Olympus, we'll all have training; especially sword for you, Kit," Clarisse says. "Next opponent."

"Um, Clarisse? Why don't you try sword this time? We don't want to fatally injure our recruits here with bullets," Chris said. "Percy can heal cuts better."

"Fine," I hear her grumble. Clarisse put away her gun and unsheathed her sharp metal sword she had been polishing the other day. "Chase, you're up."

I froze. I was hoping to be last so I would know her skills with swords as I observe; I might be able to detect any flaws to beat her. I looked up to see Percy staring at me worriedly. At least, I think he was worried. Percy turned away hastily when I faced his direction.

I bit my lip, but walked up to pick a weapon. Chris, I noticed, was glaring at me with regret; most likely regret for suggesting to Clarisse for not using a gun. He still probably thinks I 'like' Clarisse, and wants me dead.

Staring at Chris warily, I searched through the weapons. Hammers, axes (which Katie might've chosen, but didn't; by the way, Pollux was able to take his axe back from her by threatening with not-so-pretty stuff), especially swords.

Frowning, I turned to Clarisse. "Are we allowed to use our own weapons?"

Clarisse shrugged. "If you got one, which I doubt it."

I took out the dagger from my boot, and I felt Percy glaring at me from behind. A dagger was for close-combat, and I have to figure out a way to disarm her. Clarisse went to her fighting stance as I continued to stand as straight as a statue. Clarisse was holding the sword up high, so she'd be swinging it downwards.

"Hm…" I hummed.

If I hit the side of my sword to hers, I'd be able to push it sideways and twist the sword out of her hands. She's not great with dodging attacks, but most likely blocking.

Clarisse growled. "You just going to stand there, punk? Fight!"

I simply twirled my dagger in a carefree manner. "I let you take first strike," I offered.

"Just because she's a girl doesn't mean you have to act like a gentleman," Chris spat at me. "You're a _pirate_."

"And don't you forget that," Clarisse says as she charged towards me with a war cry.

As swift as a feather, I dodged two of Clarisse's sideway swings easily and quietly smiled, registering her fighting style in my mind. It's going to be useful in this little battle.

Turning to Chris, I tilted my hat at him in a respectful manner, and mocked him. "I'm sorry; I've been raised to be very etiquette. Personally, I think you need to control that utter temper of yours. Please don't take that offensively." Hiding a smile at Chris's pissed reaction; I continued to avoid Clarisse's vicious attacks. In fact, I may have imagined it, but I heard Percy chuckle in the surrounded laughter going around.

I silently snickered after a while, enjoying myself; Clarisse's moves were too easy to predict. Her style was all put in strength and make critical blows. However, she was slow, but I was much too fast. Using that as my leverage, I had a much higher chance of winning.

Getting bored after a short while, I've decided it was time to knock her sword away. As I planned, Clarisse was getting tired from using too much energy; I now completely have the upper hand. She gave one more swing; instead of dodging, I've blocked it with my dagger. Clarisse looked surprised with my change of tactics.

With our blades side to side, I pushed the sword with my dagger to the left, quickly twisting it out of her hands. It was a complete success. Clarisse was breathing heavily from running around, trying to catch me before. She looked annoyed to be beat by an amateur.

"And this is your first sword fight?" Clarisse wondered.

"Second, actually," I replied.

"Not bad, punk. You've got skills and strategy. You'd make a good pirate," Clarisse said to me, still trying to catch her breath.

Smirking, I made a short bow, and looked at Chris through the corner of my eyes. He was absolutely aggravated; it was satisfying.

I made my way back to the group where Thalia and Katie patted me on the back with encouraging words. I tried to listen, but I couldn't help look up to check Percy's expression. He looked proud, beaming down at me; I couldn't help but feel a flutter of happiness thump in my chest. I smiled back shyly at him, even though I know that there shouldn't be a reason to be so timid with him.

I quickly wiped the smile off my face and peeked over at the rest of the people. Thalia, Katie, and Clarisse didn't notice. Neither did Nico. Beckendorf was too busy talking with Grover; the Stolls were trying to hide behind each other so that Clarisse wouldn't drag one of them into a fight.

Chris however, was looking at me oddly. I quickly turned away so that I wasn't facing him. Crap. He knows now, doesn't he? I sighed. And just when I found my source of entertainment, but I guess there are other ways to keep myself amused. I crossed my fingers, hoping he would keep his suspicions to himself.

Luke walked out of the captain quarters to check how everything was going.

"Annabeth beat Clarisse," Katie notified him in a whisper, just as Clarisse started the fighting test with Conner. Luke's face lit up and grinned at me. I felt my face heat up and I looked down at my feet in embarrassment.

Thalia who stood next to me elbowed my stomach. She jerked her head up at a certain direction. My eyes followed where she was pointing, and I saw Percy with a solemn expression on his face, looking down at Luke.

I never exactly talked to Percy since yesterday, but I've decided I should. Taking one quick glance at Conner failing miserably at his test, I took a deep breath and found myself walking up to Percy. I stopped abruptly though, to take a glimpse of Luke. He gave me a warning look. Like a kid, I took one more step forward, and looked back again at Luke. He gave me a disapproving expression.

Finding this fun, I kept it up, taking one step at a time, looking back to check Luke's funny faces. When I found out I was getting closer to Percy, I looked over at him, and realized he had been staring the entire time. My face burned like lava.

"H-hey…" I stuttered.

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><p><strong>So as you may have guessed, I didn't edit :)<br>(Like I ever do...)**

Anyways, I've decided to post this up early because you all gave me awesome reviews :')  
>Aaaaannd, I'll probably update again this weekend too~ Hopefully I won't get much homework.<p>

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH~ :D  
><em>Please review again<em> (LOL)


	9. Chapter 9: Whoops

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**WARNING: Worst chapter I've ever made for this story. Plus, I didn't edit either, so that adds to the horrible-ness. But, um, I updated?**

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Nine (Whoops)<strong>

"Hi," Percy replied.

"Um, Luke gave me the position of the quartermaster, so I hope you don't mind…" I faltered as I watched a scowl grow on his face.

"The quartermaster's the person closest to the captain," Percy stated coldly.

"Oh. Luke wanted me to take that role, so I'm sorry about taking it," I muttered, not wanting a fight right now.

Percy shook his head. "I don't care about that. I just don't want you near Luke."

I was confused; Luke doesn't want me with Percy, and Percy doesn't want me with Luke. Then who _should _I be with?

I couldn't help but ask. "Why?"

Percy looked as if he wasn't expecting that reply. "I…I don't know," he sighed. "We're getting close to land. Get everyone to tie up the sails."

"I won't move until you tell me," I said stubbornly.

"I just don't like you near him," Percy said angrily. As soon as he said that, the ship begun to shake, and the waves in the waters rose violently.

"Take cover!" Clarisse hollered as everyone dashed over to the railings and held on tight.

The waves were about to hit us, but just when Percy embraced me and forced me to duck behind the wheel, the waters instantly calmed.

Was this what Luke meant by Percy being dangerous? I turned to him and he wore a guilty expression.

"Sorry," he apologized to me. He unwrapped his arms around my waist and helped me stand up.

"You can do that?" I asked him as I looked around the boat. Everyone was dry and safe as buzzes of questions went through the ship.

"Yeah," Percy mumbled. "I didn't mean to though."

I was absolutely shocked to say the least. I didn't know what to say; for Percy to be so powerful, it's kind of terrifying. That's what most people would think. I, however, was more curious about him than ever.

I turned around to face him. Percy was looking down at his feet. "So…you can control the waters by emotion?" I wondered.

Percy nodded. "I'm sorry," he repeated himself. "I'm too dangerous. Luke said I should stay away from people who I care for most; that way I won't hurt them. I guess he was right…"

So even Percy admitted his powers are too powerful for him to control. "But maybe if you had more practice," I suggested. "I could probably help. There's a library at Olympus, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't like it there. The librarian seems to hate me," Percy pointed out. "But how can you even try to help me? I could hurt you by accident."

"But then you could also heal," I added. "Plus, I could find books about supernatural powers like yours."

Percy reluctantly agreed.

"Stowaway," Luke called me. He looked angry, his nose flaring as he flickered his eyes between Percy and me. "Grover should be done with breakfast soon. You go downstairs and help him out a bit. I need to have a private chat with Percy."

Not wanting to defy his orders, I nodded and flashed a quick smile to Percy before heading off.

Arriving at the forecastle, I saw Grover with an apron Percy had worn before, having trouble with the brown porridge goop. Everyone else was busy with work upstairs, so we were alone.

"Hey, Grover, right?" I said.

Grover looked up, startled. "Oh. Yeah. And you're Chase?"

"Yeah, Luke asked me to help you with breakfast," I replied casually.

"I-I'm not doing a bad job, am I?" Grover began to panic. "Did I do something wrong? D-Does captain thinks I'm not capable of making porridge myself? Am I spending t-too long trying to make breakfast?"

"No!" I quickly reassured him. "No, everything's fine. I was talking to Percy, but Luke wants to have a private chat with him, so he suggested I come down here to help you out."

"Oh," Grover let out a huge breath. "Oh, okay. That's good."

A creak of steps from the stairs was heard. Thalia's head popped out. She was looking down at a golden earring in her hands, not really paying attention to her surroundings.

"Say, Grover, how much do you think they'll sell this over at the market at Olympus?" she says, examining the object closely.

"Oh, Th-Tailor," Grover stuttered. "Erm, _Chase_ is here to help me with breakfast," Grover says sternly, as if warning her something.

I've detected that Grover almost said 'Thalia' rather than 'Tailor'. He must've known about her then?

Thalia flinched before snapping her head up. "C-Chase! Hey! W-what're you doing here? Ha, ha…ha…" she faked her voice. She was most likely trying to pretend hiding her voice from Grover, or maybe from me for Grover.

I put on my thinking face. "That's funny," I muttered.

"W-what's funny?" Grover whimpered, for some odd reason intimidated by me.

Was I that scary? Some people say it's my eyes, but they're well hidden under my hat right now. Oh yes, my stepmother said something about my aura when I'm trying to figure something out. But that's not important.

"Say, Thals? When did you get so friendly with Grover?" I wondered aloud.

"Um, Grover and I talked a bit while you and Percy were spending time together, so uh…" Thalia faltered, hoping I got the idea.

"And I don't really know much about Thalia either!" Grover added helpfully. To me anyways.

"I see…" I smiled, unable to stifle it. The two found my smile rather creepy; they kept inching backwards as if they were of hiding something from me.

"Okay, spit it out. Come on," I teased. "With all that fidgeting, you must've wanted to tell me something, no?"

"That's, that's absurd!" Thalia gasped. "I would never! You think I would hide something from one of my best friends on this ship!"

"Oh, but I said that you wanted to tell me something," I stroked my chin thoughtfully. "Not that you were hiding something?"

"There's nothing!" Grover exclaimed. "P-please help with the p-porridge!" he squeaked, holding up the large bowl to me with both hands.

Deciding to let this situation slip for a moment, I took it from Grover and began mixing it with the provided wooden spoon. I sighed; I was never good with the kitchen. I remember having one of the maids teach me how to make tea. Boy did _that _fail horribly. I wish Percy was here to help instead.

I raised a brow at the two who were now standing in front of me awkwardly. "Well?" I asked. "Are you two going to help too? Grover, take out the bread; Thals, take the bowls out."

They nodded obediently as I smirked.

Soon enough, we called everyone down, but Percy was still with Luke. Slightly disappointed, I sat on my bed with my legs crossed, stuffing my slice of bread into the porridge before chewing on it. I was beginning to hate bread now. If only I get to have Percy's crackers.

"So," Katie sat next to me. "Have you found out about anything new on this ship? I'm feeling exhausted and bored."

"Well," I smiled angelically. "I'm certain that Grover is aware of Thalia's real name and gender."

Katie's eyes widened. "Really? Did Thalia tell him?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. I even said her name aloud to him, and he looked unfazed."

Katie grinned big. "You think they like each other?"

"Who knows?" I laughed, trying to imagine Thalia and Grover together. "Thalia was asking Grover how much a golden earring would sell."

Katie blinked. "Huh," she wondered.

"Scoot over," Clarisse demanded, walking up to us with her food. She sat down beside me. "What were you two talkin' about earlier?"

In a low voice we told her about Thalia and Grover since Grover wasn't too far away from us; she frowned. "And you think they might like each other?" Clarisse asked Katie.

"_Well_, I'm not sure. But why else would Thalia reveal her identity to Grover?" Katie said giddily.

"What if they knew each other before?" I thought. The two gave me curious looks. "I'm just thinking of other possible reasons. Maybe they used to be friends?"

"That could be true," Clarisse agreed.

"I'm back," Thalia announced, returning from the Head. "So what'd I miss?" Our eyes guiltily averted away from her, Katie whistling innocently. "What?" Thalia scowled.

"Nothing, nothing," I assured her. "Say, you know what Olympus is like?" I changed the topic.

"I've been there a few times," Clarisse says, happy to talk about it. "They have _everything_ there. Markets, houses, a beach. Oh right, that reminds me. You three need swimming lessons. And when we get there, I'm sure it'd be fine if 'Tailor', 'Chase', and 'Kit' disappear for a while, if you know what I mean."

Katie laughed quietly. "I'm _not _going to wear a guy's swim trunks rather than a women's swimsuit."

We chuckled along with her. "You can sell stuff to other pirates at markets, and you can make trades too," Thalia added. "Um, well, that's what I heard."

Was that what the golden earring was about? Maybe she wanted to sell it for money.

"Well, you guys want to buy anything?" Katie yawned.

Clarisse shrugged. "Maybe a couple spears. And maybe a sabre. Plus a few handguns."

"Weapons? Is that all you care about, Clarisse?" I shook my head. "Isn't there a library there? I want to read some books."

"Ugh. That's _all _you care about," Thalia protested. "Besides Percy."

I glared at her. "Anyways, how long are we staying there anyways?"

"I explained to Luke that I'm going to give you three a swimming lesson, though he doesn't know about you two yet," Clarisse nodded respectfully to Thalia and Katie. "He agreed, said we can take a couple weeks off from sailing. There's also a pirates training ground. He says all newbies need to go train there; I'll be teaching. I never got to clobber Travis properly."

"Can't I try to fight him first?" Katie whined, handing Thalia the rest of her food.

"You're not skillful enough," Clarisse replied. "No offense, though. You might need more practice with swords first before you decide murdering someone."

"You also need technique. Plus, if you know your opponent's fighting style, you can find their flaw and beat them up with it," I elaborated.

"I'm guessing that's how you won against Clarisse?" Thalia stuffed Katie's bread in her mouth.

Clarisse frowned at the memory as I nodded in reply. "Having technique is better than strength."

"That's not true," Clarisse argued.

"It is _too_," I fought back. "You can't just recklessly start a fight with someone, not knowing what to do."

"That's the thing about pirates, Princess," Clarisse said as if it was obvious. "We do things recklessly. It's in our nature."

"Well that's stupid. You need to plan things out first," I retorted.

"Stupid? If you're about to get a fist in your face, you'd still have time to think about how to dodge?" Clarisse laughed. "You don't know anything about pirates!" I face glowed red in embarrassment and anger. "I don't know _where_ you're from, Princess, but don't go around talking about pirates like you know everything."

"_You _don't know anything!" I shouted, getting into her face. "You need to always plan things ahead of time! That way when you're in danger, you'd know what to do!"

"Yeah?" Clarisse got up. I noticed in the corner of my eyes, people were watching us. Katie and Thalia backed up. "Did you predict this!" Clarisse yelled before giving a swift punch to my face.

My hat toppled away as I landed painfully on the wooden floor. Clarisse picked me up by my collar so that I was dangling in the air and stared icily into my eyes. "What can you do now, huh?" Clarisse says.

Glaring, I bent my knees and kicked her stomach with both of my feet in unison, somersaulted in the air when she let me go before perfecting my landing. It was something else I've learn from my self-defense lessons.

I was about to punch her back, but ended up being startle by Katie's scream.

"STOP IT!" she demanded, abandoning her fake voice. She looked as if she was in tears. "Aren't you two friends? Stop fighting!"

"Pirates fight if we're on different sides, whether it'd be friends or not," Clarisse tells her.

"_Friends_ help each other," Thalia corrected Clarisse.

"Not in this world, girly," Clarisse clenched her teeth.

"I guess it depends on what kind of friends you have," I glowered.

"Whoa," Conner gaped, interrupting our argument. "Um, I'm sorry, but you look like a girl."

I gave him a disapproving expression. "Would you like me to rip those eyes of yours out of their sockets?"

"No, ma'am! I mean _sir_. Or is it 'ma'am'?" Conner wondered.

"You're a _girl?_" Nico gaped at me. "But…no, that's not right…"

The rest of the guys were surprised and shocked. Ethan glared daggers at me. Some of the boys looked over at Thalia and Katie too, also suspicious of them.

You know all those times I mentioned how Fate _loves _me? Percy and Luke came walking down the steps. When they stopped in front of all of us, they both stared as if trying to register what had happened.

"Annabeth, what happened to your face?" Percy said, astounded, confirming the fact that I now have a bruise.

I face-palmed myself. Looks like I have a lot of explaining to do. Why did Percy have to say my name?

* * *

><p><strong>I'M SORRY! I didn't mean to update this a bit late. It's just that...I forgot? Ha ha...<br>Eh, I'm sorry for giving you such a sucky chapter. But yeah.  
>Review and tell me all the errors I have made for me to correct, and scold me for my laziness if you'd like. Or to just tell me how terrible this was, or maybe just something random like your favourite fruit. I don't exactly care, just please review!<br>I'm sorry... ;^;**


	10. Chapter 10: Bubbles

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.  
><strong>

**OH HO HO, GUESS WHAT? One of my loyal reviewer's birthdays is coming up REALLY soon (Like, REALLY REALLY soon), **_**Goddess of thr Forest**_**…Wait. When did you change your pen name? Oh wait, did you change it back? _The Sea Goddess_, yeah? Yeah.  
><strong>**Anyways, I WISH YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Am I embarrassing you? If I am, then I'm doing my job right. Oh ho ho.  
>Don't you all just love my laugh? Anyways, search her up and drown her in private messages of "<em>Happy Birthday's<em>" for me, will ya! :D  
>Here's your early birthday present!<strong>

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Ten (Bubbles)<strong>

Luke managed to rid everybody upstairs to eat on deck, except for Percy who stubbornly stayed.

"You got in a fight with Clarisse?" Luke asked angrily at me. He looked outraged and disappointed at the same time. "What were you thinking!"

"What do you mean?" Percy defended me. "Clarisse punched her in the face! It was Clarisse's fault, not Annabeth's!"

"Percy, stay out of it," Luke demanded, pushing him aside. "Why can't you obediently go up and eat like everyone else?"

"I want to stay with _Annabeth_," he crossed his arms, reminding me of a child, driving his attention to him.

They both had an icy aura around them as they glared dangerously at each other. Obviously, the conversation they had before wasn't very friendly.

"Look, can we just forget about it and make up a false story for them?" I hoped, breaking their staring contest. They now both paid absolute attention to me, which I found kind of intimidating.

I mean, icy blue eyes and curious green ones staring at you at the same time _is _pretty creepy if they stare hard enough.

Luke shook his head after a while. "They've already figured it out. I've told you to keep your identity hidden!"

"I'm sorry!" I apologized before Luke could continue with his scolding. "It was an accident!"

"The only solution is to have you and Clarisse walk the plank," Luke concluded without a second thought. It was as if this was his back-up plan if everyone found out my gender; as if he had this planned the entire time.

My eyes widened in horror. "W-walk the plank? Clarisse too?" I asked, obviously uncomfortable.

I mean, sure, Clarisse and I got into a fight. But that doesn't mean Clarisse deserves it too. And then there's another problem: my life line.

"Don't worry, Clarisse knows the basics of swimming; she's just not the best…" Luke muttered. "But she defied my orders to keep you hidden."

"Clarisse told you?" I asked again, surprised.

"No, I told Clarisse. She knew all this time?" Luke scowled. I shook my head furiously, and thankfully Luke didn't see through my lie.

"Plus, we're getting close to Olympus, so you'll be able to swim up to shore in no time," Luke says. I was about protest, but Luke stopped me. "No complaining. Just go with it. It's better than in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to go upstairs and tell everyone that you two will walk the plank, understood?"

Luke hurried off before I could reply after my shock, leaving me sickly pale. I quickly turned to Percy who stayed behind since he was best with waters. I needed help. "I can't swim," I said weakly.

Percy instantly figured out the problem. "You can't?" he panicked.

"Are you allowed to help me?" I asked hopefully.

"It's against the law to interfere with this kind of situation," Percy says. But when he saw my face drop, Percy quickly added, "But I hardly even follow them."

"You'll help?" I said.

Percy grinned and nodded. "But the problem is, I don't know what to do."

I bit my lip. "Consider this as your pop quiz for your powers," I said before I explained my plan to him.

* * *

><p>Percy held my hands behind my back as if preventing me from running away; though it was pretty stupid since we're on a boat, and I can't swim.<p>

As we walked up, everyone stared as if they were waiting for me. Clarisse was standing in front of the walking plank. She turned her head back to me with an apologetic face; I knew she didn't mean to punch me on purpose; she was blinded by anger at the moment. I nodded my head to her to show forgiveness.

She turned back and took a step onto the plank with a grimace.

"Faster!" Ethan hollered, and then faced me with a furious look. I peered over at his bandages. He must've been really pissed that I, a girl, knocked him unconscious.

Chris was too busy being worried about Clarisse to even notice me. Katie and Thalia looked down at their feet, not bearing to watch the scene.

When Clarisse was at the edge of the plank, she turned to our direction. "Ethan, you suck," were her last words before falling backwards, followed by a loud splash.

Percy pushed me forwards roughly for show. Nico had a bewildered look on his face as if he couldn't believe he had just asked a girl to help him with his problems before. I shrugged nonchalantly at him. Passing by Thalia and Katie, I smiled reassuringly at them. The Stolls pointed at me with a dumbstruck face; I glared at them. Beckendorf and Grover just looked somewhat nervous and worried about the situation whereas Pollux was a giggling freak. Chris was looking over the edge, trying to locate Clarisse; Luke gave me a stiff nod as if saying "Nice knowing you."

Taking a deep shaky breath, I walked onto the plank. Ethan, who thought it'd be funny, pushed Percy aside from behind me and shoved me forwards. I tripped but was able to grab hold of the edge of the plank, dangling in the air. Ethan stomped on my hands and twisted his foot, trying to get me to let go. I winced in pain.

"Hurry up and drop already. We don't need any of your stinking bad luck on this ship," Ethan said angrily.

I choked back a cry of pain. Luckily, Percy pulled Ethan back before my fingers lost grip. He gave me a comforting look, saying it was okay for me to drop telepathically.

Sucking in a breath, I tried to pry my fingers off, but I was too scared to. Do I doubt Percy? This _is _my life on the life here. I was afraid Percy couldn't do it. I looked down to see that Clarisse had already resurfaced. She looked as if she'd try to catch me if I fell. Looking back up at Percy, my eyes watered a bit; if Percy failed, what a stupid death this would be. He understood me and mouthed the words, "Trust me."

Problem was, do I?

However, I didn't need to let go of my hands willingly; Pollux's burp was so loud it frightened me, causing me release my hold. I tried my best to reach for the plank again, but it was too late; I was falling.

I shut my eyes tight, waiting for the impact. But, I didn't feel anything at all. The wind swishing past my ears stopped; everything went silent. Taking in the courage to open one of my eyes, I found myself underwater. An air bubble surrounded me protectively. I saw the ocean sand and fishes swimming past me.

It worked. How could I have doubted Percy in the first place?

I saw Clarisse's diving figure swimming towards me. The look on her face was priceless; she was so surprised that she almost released her breath she was holding.

I forced a smile to say I was okay. Apparently, Clarisse took it as a sign to invade my bubble. She swam as fast as she could, ramming her head towards it. All it did was let Clarisse through the bubble, and thankfully, it didn't pop.

"What the-?" Clarisse spluttered.

"It's fine," I said quickly. "Don't destroy this; you know I can't swim."

"H-How did you…?" she faltered.

"It wasn't me who did this," I murmured. Clarisse gave me a questioning look. "Never mind, I'll explain later."

We watched silently as the bubble began to move us towards land. Our direction shifted to a different direction than the shadow of the boat above us.

"The boat's going to the dock," Clarisse explained. "But where are _we _going?"

Instantly, an answer popped to my mind. "The beach…" I muttered. Percy and his mom used to live on a beach; maybe it reminds him of her. Plus, if we surfaced with the other pirates, they might try to kill us since we didn't drown. The beach was probably on the other side of the island; Percy must've thought it'd be safer there. I smiled to myself at how smart Percy could be at times.

We traveled through bubble for a while; probably about forty five minutes before the bubble began moving upwards, resurfacing. The bubble disappeared when our heads popped up, but the waves were helping us float and move towards the beach like I've predicted.

There weren't much people; just a few kids playing around with their parents, and a stranger trying to sell some sort of cloth.

"There are families here?" I asked.

"Yeah, most are ex-pirate; those who retired or walked the plank like us," Clarisse says. "Otherwise there are merchants or patrons. They settle here and create families."

I watched two kids playing making a sandcastle. I wished I spent my childhood life like that.

Nobody saw us when we touched land. I was dry, but Clarisse was still a bit soaked from her swim before. The stranger it seemed, was giving away free clothing; robes to be exact.

We approached the old man, deciding he was friendly. "Hello, young ladies," he greeted us. "Would you two like a free robe?"

He held up a ratty looking robe to our faces. It had a hood, perfect to hide our faces with.

Before Clarisse could refuse the offer, I spoke up. "Yes, thank you," I smiled, taking two. I handed Clarisse one as I shrugged one on.

The old man seemed happy. "I'm trying to promote my son's shop over at the market. He sells great equipment! You two could have a look at the accessories," he suggested.

"That'd be nice. I'll go over and check out the stuff he has when I have the time," I said politely. "Which shop is it?"

"It's the one by the fruit stand. I'm sure you'll recognize it immediately," he smiled.

I nodded. "We need to meet with someone here first; we'll go and look later, if that's fine with you."

"Yes, please!" the man nodded eagerly, glad that someone was going to his son's store. He trudged off, looking for other people.

Clarisse put on her robe. "Is this for disguising?" she asked.

"Yep, we need to hide from the others," I explained, missing my feathered hat. I put on the hood. "We don't want trouble."

Clarisse silently agreed and put her hood on too. "Who are we waiting for anyways?"

"Percy," I replied casually.

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah, short chapter. No edit. Happy Birthday, yeah?<br>Do you love the cliffie?**

LOL, I had to end it there. Annnyways, I'm gonna make the brithday girl jealous by saying... I'M EATING A CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. AH HA HAH. :D  
>Don't you just LOVE your present? Go on, kiss your computer screen.<p>

Btw, readers, I got my report card...all above class average. OH HO HO. I'm showing off.

Please review! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! :D


	11. Chapter 11: Theft

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.  
>Cows go moo? Okay, I'm sorry! So sorry! I ended up procrastinating and distracted the entire week, my bad… But here it is! Though there's no edit so it's probably terrible. But it's a long chapter, yeah? Yeah. Okay, good :)<br>Please don't kill me with durian fruits. Those are deadly ninja weapons…**

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter 11 (Theft)<strong>

It's been thirty minutes. Percy still didn't arrive yet. A girl came up to us not long ago, wanting to re-braid my messed up hair; she must've saw me before I placed my hood on. Of course, I reluctantly agreed. Something about her made it hard not to.

The girl looked skinny as if she hadn't eaten for days, and looked a year or two younger than me. She wore tattered clothes, an innocent smile, running up to me in bare feet. With the sand burning from the sun, it must've been painful. It didn't seem to bother her. I think she was enduring it. The girl had choppy and uneven chocolate brown hair. It was hard to determine the colour of her eyes; it kept changing from blue to green to brown.

Anyways, I was now sitting down in the sand with the girl, Piper, who was behind me and braiding my hair. Clarisse sat awkwardly in front of me, wanting to start a conversation, but not wanting the girl to listen to us.

"So what brings you to this beach?" Piper cut through the thick silence.

"We're waiting for someone," I answered shortly.

"Oh. On a date?" She asked, very interestedly.

"No," Clarisse glared.

Piper frowned at Clarisse; a disapproving frown. "Somebody's grumpy. Did you get dumped or something?"

Probably expecting Clarisse to strangle her, I think she was rather surprised Clarisse didn't. Instead, Clarisse and I shared a meaningful look, trying hard not to laugh. Oh, we _both _got dumped, alright. Just off a boat.

Since no one replied to her, Piper sighed in frustration. "You people need to talk more. Say, Annabeth, right? That's a nice necklace you have there."

I smiled down at the sand, pleading to god that no one saw me blush. "Thanks," I mumbled.

"Well," Piper says, standing up. "I'm done! I should head back now. Nice meeting you!"

We watched as she sprinted off the beach happily. That's when we noticed Percy walking up to us. I felt a pang of guilt for not trusting him earlier, but the feeling vanished instantly when he grinned.

"Did I take long?" Percy asked us. "Sorry 'bout that. I had to help Luke with something, and I needed to shake off the others so they wouldn't follow me. Luke would suspect me to be here too, so we need to find a better place to talk."

"Percy," Clarisse nodded stiffly at him. She must've picked up some clues about how Percy must've saved me from drowning. It could be what Clarisse might have wanted to confirm to me about, but Piper was in the way.

"Clarisse," Percy replied. "Where'd you guys get the cloak?"

"Some old man was giving them out as advertisement," I answered him.

"Good, put your hoods on. We're going to the market," Percy decided.

"What?" Clarisse deadpanned. "You do realize that the market's the _most crowded place in Olympus_. Right?"

Percy nodded. "Exactly. Just blend in with the crowd; no one will notice you. Of course, unless you don't want to follow."

Clarisse scowled but got up, patting sand off her pants. "Fine. Have fun on you date, Princess. Don't break her heart, Prissy," Clarisse smiled, obviously amused with herself as she brushed past Percy. Actually, no; 'brushed' was an understatement. More like 'shoved him aside.'

Clarisse strut off heading to who knows where.

I turned to Percy to see that his face resembles a tomato. Rolling my eyes at how easily Clarisse can get to Percy, I got up and took Percy's hand. It didn't help with Percy's temperature; his face grew redder. I had to stifle my smirk.

"Come on, Percy," I urged him. "Let's go. If the market's that crowded, I don't want to lose you."

"Um, r-right, right," Percy nodded furiously, but didn't move a muscle after that. He just stared at me, making me feel self-conscious about myself.

When the rosy colour drained from Percy's cheeks, I was afraid for a moment that Percy thought I looked terrible; Piper might've ruined my braid rather than making it look better.

Thankfully it wasn't that. It was worse.

"Where's the locket I gave you? Did you leave it in the ship?" Percy asked.

I frowned. "No, it's…" I faltered as I put my hand on around my neck. It wasn't there. "M-maybe I lost it underwater?" I panicked, and for some reason hearing me say that felt silly.

Percy shook his head. "I'd know if you did. What about that old man you were talking about? There are a lot of thieves around here; most of them are extremely good actors. You need to be careful in Olympus. They don't call this the Pirate City for nothing."

I scowled. "Maybe…" I said. I thought about Piper and how she complimented the locket earlier before. The old man wasn't close enough to me to get the necklace; Piper saw the locket after the old man disappeared. That means I was wearing it then… Piper was braiding my hair! She must've taken it from me from behind!

"It wasn't the old man," I replied. "It has to be that girl…"

"You mean the one with brown hair I walked past?" Percy furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, her," I nodded. "She saw the locket after the man left."

"Then we need to find her!" Percy declared. "Wait. Where do we start?"

"What about the market?" I rolled my eyes at the suggestion. We were going to go there anyways.

Percy nodded. "Good idea."

I shook my head at his childish behaviour and threw on my hood. Hand in hand, Percy and I rushed down the beach and into the city.

* * *

><p>We were in the market district and it is definitely the most clustered and loudest place I've ever been to; it was making me feel claustrophobic. There were people <em>everywhere<em>. The only way to get from one place to another is by squeezing yourself through the crowd. It felt impossible to find Piper in this ocean of people.

With the people pushing us aside, Percy and I had to stay so close together that I was practically hugging his arm rather than holding it.

"Is there anywhere we can breathe in this place?" I asked as a pirate shoved me closer to Percy. I glared at the drunken hairy man who did that, but he was quickly swallowed by the swarm of flesh and bones.

"Nope," Percy replies as I created some space between us. "Not in the market there isn't."

I groaned as we continued to brush past the mob of humans – actually, no. I don't think I should say that. I just saw a skeleton trying to find it's skull as people kicked it further away from him as they walked. The skeleton cursed at them; surprisingly, it spoke English.

"Hey, you ugly seadogs! Stop that! This is my head! Hey! Hey!" the skeleton stomped in anger as the head continued to blabber, but the people ignored him as if he was some lowlife.

I pulled on Percy's sleeve and pointed at the living dead, obviously curious about this strange magic.

"Someone probably put an ancient spell on him," Percy explained. "Come on."

He dragged me towards the skull and picked it up.

"Oi! Put me down, boy! I'm not some sort of treasure! Even though, I am pretty dashing, aren't I?" the skull complimented himself.

"Don't worry, we're trying to help you," Percy says as we tried to push our way towards the skeleton body. Percy put its head back on, and the skeleton spun his head in a 360 turn.

"Ah!" the skeleton says, and it looks as if it was trying to grin. "That's much better. Thank you, lad! And who's this friend of yours?"

I looked up to the skeleton, hood not hiding my face anymore.

"Oh ho! A lass!" the skeleton laughed. "Thank very much, eh…" he trailed off for our names.

"Annabeth," I said warily.

"I'm Percy," he introduced himself with confidence.

"Ah, and my name's Castor," the skeleton says, bobbing his head up and down. "I know you've just helped me before, but you don't mind helpin' this fella again, do ya?"

Percy and I shared a look. He shrugged.

"What do you need?" I asked him.

Castor laughed. "Demanding!" he exclaimed. "I like ya, lass. I was just wonderin' if you happened to have a boat."

Percy and I shared another look.

"No, we don't," Percy replied.

I frowned, staring at him. There was the _Princess Andromeda_, right? I wasn't allowed back on that ship anymore, that's for sure, but Percy could.

Castor snorted. "Never mind," he muttered angrily.

"Why do you ask?" I wondered. "Besides, you're enchanted, aren't you? To be able to live when you're supposed to be dead? Who's your patron?" I thought maybe he was trying to escape.

"Arg, I was a pirate," Castor admitted. "Died on me journey. Someone casted a spell on me and had me join _his _pirate crew. I kind of fell off his boat during a storm; got washed up here. As for my patron, that is classified information, lass."

"You want a boat to find your master again?" Percy added.

"A-Aye. Of course," the skeleton bobbed his head again.

"Well, I'm a pirate, and so is Annabeth… But she had to walk the plank, and I'm kind of running away…" Percy faltered, leaving me in shock.

I couldn't believe what he just said. "Running _away_?" I hissed. "What are you thinking, you Seaweed Brain!" The words just spluttered out of my mouth so quickly that I didn't have a chance to think about what I was saying.

Percy stared at me. "Seaweed Brain?" he asked in a dazed manner.

"F-for having your head filled with kelp," I stuttered. "What you're doing is absolutely stupid!"

"Well I can't exactly leave you alone. The pirate world is dangerous!" Percy protested.

My heart melted. He wanted to stay by my side because he was worried for me? "I can be fine myself," I said stubbornly either way, filled with pride.

"I'll stay with you anyways," Percy says persistently.

I sighed at his annoying determination to protect me. "Seaweed Brain," I mumbled, but I still felt happy that he wanted to remain with me, feeling too lazy to protest back.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your lover's quarrel," Castor waved his boney hand at us. "I'll be going now."

Looking at Percy, I see his face red again. "I-It wasn't a lover's quarrel!" he argued, but the skeleton was now nowhere in sight. He sighed in frustration, so I squeezed his hand to remind him that we're trying to find a missing locket.

"Come on," I insisted. "Let's go somewhere where we could see everything."

* * *

><p>Percy brought me to an abandoned stone tower near the market place. Of course, I was freaked out. Who knows how many spiders will be in there? Percy was able to reassure me by just a bit.<p>

"Trust me," he says. And I want to, but I still don't know if I do.

The entrance was blocked and nailed by wooden planks. Percy took out a pen from his pocket and uncapped it. It transformed into a beautiful celestial bronze looking sword.

"It's enchanted," Percy says. "The only thing my dad left us before he disappeared. I think he may have died," he says sadly.

Percy was able to saw the planks apart, making a hole at the bottom, big enough for us to fit through. Percy crawled in first with me behind him.

As soon as we entered, Percy touched the tip of his sword and it returned back to pen. He lit a match for us to see since it was so dark. The place was covered in thick layers of dust on wooden tables and bookshelves, but I know I won't be touching the books. They've got webs on them.

Resisting the urge to hold Percy's hand, I followed him to the table where he picked up an oil lantern. Blowing the dust off it, he lit it before waving the flame off his match.

"Come on," Percy encouraged me, holding the lantern up high to illuminate the area with light.

I followed him up the curved stairway, noticing how all the windows were nailed with wood too.

"Are we even allowed in here?" I asked him.

Percy shrugged, not facing me as we continued to walk upwards. "It's fine, don't worry."

Of course I'd worry. With his seaweed headed brain, he could get us into trouble. Speaking of trouble, he just tripped up the stairs, almost dropping the lantern.

Sighing I snatched the lantern from him and held a hand out.

"Hurry up," I demanded.

He took my hand and pulled himself up. "Sorry, I was a little distracted."

"At what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing, just spaced out," Percy said hurriedly. He took the lantern back from me and continued to walk.

I frowned, absolutely hating the fact that he's not telling me something. I figured I should still stick with following him even though there could be a possibility that he was trying to kidnap me, rape me, or kill me. I figured out one thing for certain from that though, I certainly didn't trust Percy, no matter how good looking he may be. I shouldn't even trust any other pirates. I kept low and my hand close to my boot in case I needed to take my dagger out.

When we made it up, I realized that it was supposed to be luxurious looking bedroom. There was a treasure chest with a key hole sitting in the corner of the room. In the room, there was also a vanity desk and a fancy chair.

Percy frowned, wiping a thin layer of dust off the desk. "Someone's been here before. It could've been the person who blocked this place off."

"It wasn't supposed to be nailed with planks before?" I questioned.

"No," Percy shook his head. "I've been wondering why though. Great, the archway to the balcony's blocked too," he groaned.

He took out his sword and began sawing the wood again as I browsed around. It looked like a simple girl's room. I wondered who would have lived here before. I noticed another bookshelf which I found curiously non-webbed, and dust free.

I walked up to it, looking through the selection of books available. A lot were fairy tales, some dictionaries and encyclopaedias, myths, and I found a strangely black, thin, leather book without a title on the spine. I peered over to Percy to see that he was still busy. Gently, I removed the book from the shelf to see that spare pieces of paper were sticking out of it, and curved it slightly to fit it in my boot.

I walked over to Percy to check how he was doing. "So, who lived here before?"

Percy looked up at me. "No one's really sure, actually. It was abandoned a long time ago."

"I see," I muttered, understanding why Percy was so curious about why a person entered and sealed this building off. There was the possibility of danger, but I highly disbelieve that. There must've been something important hidden here is what I'm guessing. My eyes trailed over to that treasure chest.

Percy continued to saw the thick boards as I continued to explore the room. I walked quietly over to the chest and tried it open it. Luckily, it was unlocked; unfortunately, there was nothing in it but a dust and a stupid piece of string. I picked it up but it looked completely useless. Throwing it back in there, I shut the chest and trudged over to Percy again.

I squatted down and stared at him.

Percy turned to me. "What?" He wondered.

"Nothing," I shook my head. I faced the wooden boards. They were starting to look weak. I got up and gave it a high, hard kick, knocking down most of the planks, forming a somewhat circular hole. I stepped over the remaining boards that stubbornly stayed intact at the bottom and walked onto the balcony.

Percy tagged along. "Impressive," he complimented.

"Thank you," I said, obviously proud of myself. I didn't tell him that he could've done it too; my kick wasn't too powerful. But hey, a compliment's a compliment. I'll take it.

I held the railing of the balcony and looked below to realize we were up pretty high. Percy did the same. Below was the market; the people looked like ants, little dots moving everywhere but around the area of the tower we were in, avoiding it like the plague.

"There," Percy says, pointing to the horizon of the ocean. It was where the docks were. "The Princess Andromeda."

My eyes landed on the huge ship, but I didn't quite seem interested in it. I kept looking at the horizon, wondering how beautiful it would be at sunset with Percy beside me.

Percy seemed to have read my mind. "When the sun sets, we'll come here and eat dinner together," he declared with a grin.

I couldn't fight off my own smile. "Alright," I agreed.

After I said that, Percy's stomach growled. "How about we start with lunch first?" he suggested.

I laughed. "And then we'll continue searching."

"Well, whoever that girl was, she must've already escaped. It'd be hard to find her. It was just a locket anyways," Percy shrugged. "We can go and have some fun."

"There was no importance of the necklace whatsoever?" I wondered. Maybe he did just take it from his heap of treasure under his bunk.

"It was my mom's actually. She got it from Dad. But it's okay," he says as if it didn't matter.

I pulled at his collar and brought him closer to my face. "Not _okay_! Why did you even give me such an important piece of jewellery if you knew they were from your parents!"

Percy's eyes widened slightly by surprise of my actions. "Because I thought it'd look pretty on you," he answered simply.

I felt like banging his head against the wall.

"We're searching for the locket after lunch," I let go of him.

"Aw, come on!" Percy whined. "But –"

"No," I interrupted him. "No complaining. Let's go and find somewhere to eat now," I said.

Taking his hand once again (secretly, happy I that I've got my chance to), I dragged his butt out of the tower and went to a restaurant I've spotted above a while ago.

I think this might be considered a date.

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><p><strong>Eating Hershey's Kisses. Jealous? Oh ho ho :)<br>Annnyways, I was gonna make it longer but I've decided to just update the damn thing already. So here it is!  
>Two new characters; both from the books. I'm sure you at least know who Piper is, hm? ;)<br>New people are starting to get introduced! The story's finally starting to climb the hill of awesomeness.**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!  
>Need help on what to review about?<br>- what you're eating (whatever it is, it can't be better than chocolate ;D).  
>- favourite part of the story so far (any chapterscene)  
>- HOW ARTISTIC ARE YOU? Rate yourself from 1 -10, 10 being the best. OH HO HO. <strong>


	12. Chapter 12: Snake and Stones?

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.  
>BY THE WAY: I LOVE SNAKES. They're just so cute :)<strong>

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Twelve (Snake and Stones?)<strong>

As I dragged the Seaweed Brained dope behind me, I spotted the nice restaurant I've seen earlier. I couldn't exactly read the sign because of my dyslexia. When we went inside, we found that it was clean, empty, and creepy.

The round tables were nice and polished, each with at least two wooden stools sitting by it. There was a counter up ahead with stacked plates and clean glasses; some money was still left there. Behind it was the door to the kitchen. There were many life size statues with terrified expressions around the room; some sitting on the stools that looked as if they were meant for customers. It must've been a decoration, maybe. So far, it looked like a horror themed restaurant with cutesy yellow walls and frilly white curtains covering the windows.

It was creepy because I found it strange no one was here but stone people. Though, I'd suspect that most pirates would rather be in a pub than a tiny restaurant.

Percy also sensed a weird aura in this place. "Maybe we should go eat somewhere else?" he wondered.

I frowned. "I guess…"

Percy's stomach rumbled loudly as we were about to walk out. "Ugh," he moaned. I stifled a laugh, but it quickly turned into a hiccup.

"CUSTOMERS!" screeched a voice from behind the counters, causing us both to flinch.

A scruffy looking woman popped up from behind the counters. She wore a veil, blindfolded with a piece of black cloth, wearing a ragged dress and a walking stick in her hands. She appears to be blind.

"Please, please!" the women says. "Sit, sit! Not many people stop by this place, you know? Rumored to be haunted, but not to worry! It must've been my statues that scare away my customers. I made them, you know? Hard to do the faces; never were quite right."

Percy and I shared a suspicious look, unsure if we should stay. I've detected that a blind person making such realistic looking statues seemed impossible. I released another hiccup, causing Percy to stare amusingly at me. Feeling humiliated, I blushed.

"Go on!" the lady insisted. "Sit! I'll get some water!" She shoved us onto some stools on a table. The lady returned with two glasses of fresh water.

"Thank you," I said politely, feeling uncomfortable. I didn't touch the glass. Percy drained his instantly with a contented sigh.

"No problem, Sweetie," she says. Her eyes felt like they were burning holes through that cloth and weaving through my soul. Her head was cocked to the side as if she was examining me even if her eyes were covered.

When she realized she was being rude, her head turned to Percy. "Anything for you, m'boy?"

"No, ma'am," Percy says. "Oh, but you don't happen to have a beef sandwich, do you?"

"Oh yes! On the house!" she offered. "Call me Aunty Em," she requested before hurrying off to the kitchen. I realized she wasn't using the walking stick; how was she to see?

"Percy," I hissed. "You think we should be here?"

"Come on, it's fine," he says coolly. "The food's free!"

Oh god, _boys_. I rolled my eyes. Of course. The entrance door opened and I found Grover limping inside. He gave a short look around and his eyes lit up when they landed on us.

"Hey!" Grover waved, trotting up to us.

We greeted him back. "The lady's nice here," Percy tells him. "She's making me a free sandwich."

Grover's eyes widened. "What about enchiladas?" he asked eagerly.

"Guys," I warned, but 'Aunty Em' came back quickly with Percy's sandwich.

"My, my," she squealed with delight. "You've come to eat too?" she asked Grover. I had no idea how she noticed Grover there when she's _blind_. Am I the only noticing this thing?

"Can I have a free enchilada?" Grover asked straightforwardly, drooling excitedly. He looked like a dog with that tongue of his sticking out.

"Right away," Em agrees with an unsettling smile.

Grover grabbed a stool from another table and dragged it to ours. "I can't believe there's such a place like this! Enchiladas and you don't even have to pay!"

I glared. "Grover, please pay _extremely close attention_ at where we are."

Grover blinked and took a few glances at some of the statues, skin slowly turning pale. "Um, what are those?"

"Life-sized statues that look as if they're screaming in horror," Percy observed.

"Feels safe in here, eh?" I said sarcastically.

Aunty Em returned with a plate of enchiladas for Grover. "Please enjoy!" she says happily. She noticed how Grover couldn't remove his eyes from a statue of an old man with curly hair and a wooden leg near the door. He continued to gap.

Aunty Em cleared her throat. "Impressed? I made them, you know."

"Ha-heh-ah…" Grover stuttered, forcing his gaping mouth to twitch the corners of his mouth into a freaked out smile. Rather than impressed, I'm sure Grover feels horrified instead.

"So, darling," Em gave me a creepy smile. "Anything for you?"

"No," I said bluntly with pride, trying my best not to back away from her bad breath. I straightened myself up to show that I wasn't afraid of her. "I'm good."

"Well," Em nodded. "That's fine. Oh, but you don't mind if you did this nice women a favour, hm?"

I scoffed. "_nice_" was out of the vocabulary for her. Sure she gave Percy and Grover free food, but that doesn't match up to what she was going to do afterwards. I was getting a very slight clue about this woman.

"That looks like my uncle Ferdinand…" I heard Grover mutter, eyes still glued to the stone figure. He hadn't even touched his enchiladas.

"Sure, what'd you need?" Percy says, taking a bite of his sandwich. I wanted to run a javelin right through his chest for being so idiotic. Can he be that clueless? The environment around us was practically screaming "DANGER!"

"Well, you see, I wanted to add another one of my masterpieces to my collection," she gestured to the dining area we're in. "And I need someone to model for me."

"We can do it," Percy suggested before I could muster up an excuse for us to leave. I glowered at the Seaweed Brain.

"Actually, we kind of need to do something important right now," I said, which was partly true. We needed to search for the locket.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Percy encouraged. Why does he _still _not get it? I swear he's denser than aluminum!

"Yes, Annabeth," she hissed. "It will be very fun!"

I eyed her suspiciously. "I never gave you my name," I stated calmly. My hand was near my ankle, reaching for the dagger.

I knew who she was; Medusa from the Greek myths. I've heard about many pirate tales and about dangerous adventures and creatures. Medusa was one of them; many Greek mythical monsters lurked in the lives of pirates like Scylla and Charybdis. I knew that _hardly_ anyone had lived to tell the tale of Medusa once they've met her.

"Very smart of you, girl," Medusa says approvingly. "Just like your mother."

I narrowed my eyes; my biological mother was the only one I knew that escaped her grasp.

"You have her grey eyes," Medusa complimented. "Very pretty. Unfortunately, I really hate grey." She slowly tried to unravel her veil.

Standing up from the stool, I grabbed the back of Grover's and Percy's shirt, tugging them to get up. Grover did as told, still examining his uncle-look-alike. Percy however, continued to sit there stubbornly.

"Annabeth, you're being paranoid," he says.

That – That – UGH. Does he not get that I'm trying to save his ugly kelp-faced _life_?

"Yes, darling," Medusa agreed. "I'll make you a _beautiful _sculpture of yourself. It'll be grey, just like your eyes."

Swiftly, I let go of their shirts and took out my dagger, pointing it at the vicious being. Percy looked surprised as if I was about to assault an innocent handicapped woman.

"Aw, Sweetie," Medusa gushed. "You shouldn't use violence to solve your problems. My, like mother like daughter, I guess," she sighed dramatically.

Percy gripped onto my wrist with the dagger. "Seriously, Annabeth. What's going on?"

That was when Medusa completely took off that black veil of hers. Where her hair was supposed to be, it was replaced with hissing snakes with red eyes instead.

"Oh. Crap," Percy stared.

Medusa evilly grinned and started to take off her blindfold too.

"Don't look!' I demanded, and shut my eyes, covering Percy's with my free hand. His grip on my wrist pressured as if he was worried I would die. Oh, so _now _he realizes our situation.

I felt something smooth nudging my face as hisses filled my ears. _Ew_, the snakes are touching my face. I had to resist the urge to vomit on Medusa from disgust. How revolting. Medusa's hair's trying to cuddle with me.

Beside me, I could feel Percy was trying to hold back from opening his eyes. I had my hand over his eyes for backup though; he should be safe. But Percy's most likely was worried about Grover and me.

Shit. What happened to Grover?

Behind me, I heard Grover let out a small whimper which gave me the simplest clue of his heart rate; it was still beating. That left a little less panic away from me.

"Open your eyes," Medusa sang softly to me, and it was hard not to. Her voice was hypnotizing.

Percy tightened his grip even more, causing my blood circulation to stop flowing into my hand. Ouch? He needs to relax more.

My nose twitched when one of the snake's tongues flickered on my eyelid, trying to tempt me into opening them.

"Open your eyes," Medusa says again softly. When I didn't, I heard Medusa growl. "Daughter of Athena," she started dangerously. I felt her fingertips touch my eyelids. Flinching, I squeezed my eyes closed so hard that tears were threatening to escape. Medusa paused for a short moment before removing her hands. "I really want you dead," she says sweetly now.

"Leave her alone!" shouted Percy. He pulled my wrist so that I stumbled behind him; Percy at the front trying to defend me. It's like he's treating me as I child. I can handle her myself!

The aura around me felt from dangerous to creepy. "My, Perseus Jackson," Medusa purred. "I know your father. Did you know that? I really liked him; very nice man. But he ran off with another women," her voice turned into hatred.

I was curious about what was going on, wheedled into almost opening my eyes. Thankfully, Percy helped me remember the risk of being exposed to sight when the snake-headed monster was around. He let go of my wrist which surprised me and removed my other hand over Percy's face. Percy stole my dagger, and I then heard something that sounded like a monster screeching in pain. I heard a little _clang_ before he took my wrist again and Grover's, dragging us to the door.

"Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover wailed.

I didn't dare open my eyes, but Percy seemed to have. He was able to lead us to the door and out the cursed restaurant.

When I felt a cool breeze hit my face, I blinked my eye open. I looked beside me and Grover did too. Percy, I noticed, was holding the glass cup from earlier with my dagger inside it like a straw. Percy let go of me and returned my weapon.

"So you can be smart," I noted. Percy must've used the glass cup to attack Medusa by using its reflection to see.

"I'm always smart," Percy protested.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't even notice that she was a monster!"

"Hey! You were the one who brought us here," Percy scowled.

"But if you weren't there, I'd be," Grover joined in. "And I'd end up having the same fate as Uncle Ferdinand!"

Percy patted reassuringly on Grover's patted. "It's alright, G-Man. On the bright side, you're A-Okay!"

I glared at Percy. Oh, so _he _gets all the credit? I _did _warn him. Jerk.

"Thanks, Buddy," Grover says. He gave a sniff. "Well, you mind if I tag along with you guys? I'd feel safer if we ended up in the same situation again together."

"Sure, no problem," Percy agreed.

He _is _taking all the credit! Ugh! That egotistical moron!

I cleared my throat. "If you don't mind, but I think we were searching for something?"

Percy turned to face me; I glowered at him. Percy frowned. "Fine."

My stomach growled. I sighed. I didn't eat anything. Percy rummaged through his pockets and handed me some of his crackers without even looking at me. I snatched it away from him and ate them slowly to savour the salty taste. I stared at the ground as I ate, staring icily at it as if it were Percy himself.

"Let's go," I announced after taking a bite of the last cracker.

"Um, what exactly are we looking for?" Grover questioned.

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><p><strong>OH HO HO HO. Sorry about the late update. Apparently, I've been feeling lazy... Anyways, as you've all must've guessed, I didn't edit this either. Ha?<br>REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I deserve some, don't I? :D  
>I still updated either way :)<strong>


	13. Chapter 13: Lost and Found

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.  
>"HyperJuggernaut" who disabled Private Messaging: Thanks for ruining my ego. By the way, how's it like those high school fanfictions? And, I'm not even close to the real action yet. The suspense hasn't built up completely to reach the climax of the story. Last chapter was a warm up to the <strong>_**real **_**action coming up soon. In like, a few chapters or so later…Still the beginning. No rush. :P  
>Plus, other people have different story tastes than you do; some like the drama more than the adventures. I'm trying to put in a mix of both.<br>I know that the pirate atmosphere hasn't completely built up yet either (I'm not stupid okay? I'm just a klutz), but that's because Annabeth's new to the whole 'pirate thing' and her view towards this 'pirate thing' is different ('cause she's not exactly a real pirate yet – no experience whatsoever). Plus, they're currently on land, not a freaking boat. Obviously the environment doesn't scream "PIRATE!"**

**"Tough cookie" the Anonymous Reviewer: DON'T WORRY. Goodness, it's not going to be** _**completely **_**like the books. I'm just going to add similar adventures from the books in pirate version. And there will be more Percabeth moments than the books have; so yes, like I've said, don't worry.**

**Sorry about the long author's note of replies, but I wanted to clear things up for you guys.**

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter Thirteen (Lost and Found)<strong>

Percy and I wandered around with Grover tagging along as Percy explained to him the situation. We were walking aimlessly about in the least populated and poor district of the market place. In reply to Percy, Grover just nodded his head as if this 'Medusa and thieves' problem happens regularly in his life.

"Thieves usually sell stuff they steal for money. All we've got to do is find the place the person sold it to," Grover says calmly.

"Teensy problem," I added as I clenched my cloak tightly around me. Percy convinced me to keep my hood off for now; he said something about my hair or whatever. "You expect us to search the entire market, shop by shop, product by product?"

Grover hesitated. "Okay, so that _may _be a _teensy_ problem."

Percy, who was in front of us, stopped walking. Grover stopped walking too, beside him; since I was behind Percy, I almost crashed into him.

I scowled. "What?"

Percy turned around and shrugged. "So we're going back to the busy district?"

I darted my eyes left and right. "Well," I started. But my eyes stopped at a certain rutty fruit stand with only a couple molded apples and dead looking pears.

Percy looked over at the fruit stand too. "You still hungry? I don't think those are edible."

Ignoring him, I looked to the left of it and found an open store. It was basically a large dirty rug spread out on the ground with several odd looking items scattered on top of it, each item with a paper price tag sitting beside it. Crouching in the middle was a boy who has curly black hair, a babyish face, brown eyes, and seems to be around our age. His pointy ears made him look like an elf. The boy was tinkering with something in his hands.

I frowned. The boy looked too young to be that old man's son, but I walked up to him anyways with Percy and Grover curiously following behind.

"Hey," I said, catching his attention.

The boy grinned when he saw me and wiggled his eyebrows. "Hello there, fine lady."

I almost gagged. Was he flirting with me? I shot him a disgusted look. Percy wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled my back.

"Excuse me?" Percy glared, expecting him to apologize. The boy flinches in fear.

Rolling my eyes at him, I removed his hand off my shoulder a bit too forcefully. I didn't need him to defend me anyways; just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't protect myself.

"Do happen to know an old man giving out cloaks like these?" I poked at mine.

"Ah, you mean _abuelo_. Yeah, sure," the boy nodded his head. "My foster parent's dad. He's out picking for materials."

"You're in a foster family?" Grover asked curiously, feeling pity for the boy.

He nodded again. "Oh _yeah_. Ran away from five different families," he said proudly. "_Abuelo _is theonly one nice to me right now, though. So, what do you want to buy?"

"I'm looking for accessories," I said instantly.

Percy and Grover gave me a weird look as if me interested in jewellery is like a whale playing the violin. I pretended not to notice their goofy expressions.

"That section, my lady," The elf-boy pointed over to the corner of the rug.

I walked over and crouched down to examine the goods. There's a heap of varieties of trinkets for sale, one for two gold coins (which is a rip off in my case, looking at these rusty little things). I took my time looking over them, hoping to find that locket somewhere.

"So what're you making?" Grover asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Ah, are you interested in automations?" elf-boy asked in a hushed voice as if it were a secret.

Grover blinked. "Um, no offence dude, but what's auto-ma-bwa?"

"It's a mechanical figure created to perform tasks automatically, or something like that," I explained simply.

"Ah! You know of them!" he says excitedly. "They're not very popular though. People don't believe such things are possible to create. I want to be the first to make one."

"Moving mechanical figures?" Percy frowned. "That seems…difficult."

"Well, I'm trying to make one," he said optimistically. "I want to make it the shape of a dragon. And then I'm going to name him Festus."

"Happy the dragon…" Percy muttered to himself. I cracked a little smile at that.

"What?" the boy asked, not hearing his words.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Percy says. "So you've got weapons for sale too."

"Oh, yeah. Go check 'em out. Oh god, _abuelo_ is going to freak to know how many customers I've got today!" the Spanish boy says dreamily.

"That's if any of us buys something here," Grover coughed, not really wanting to break the news to him.

"What was that?" the boy asked again. He kept getting distracted from making Festus.

"Er, never mind."

Grover browsed at the mini metal sculptures of food as Percy checked out the swords.

One by one, I continued to dig through the rusty jewelleries until I actually found something that glinted and sparkled in the sunlight. With my finger, I hooked the silver chain and gently yanked it up. It slid quickly out of the pile to find that it was a heart shaped locket. There was the same wave-like tree pattern and embossed owl on the heart.

"Ah-ha! Found it," I announced happily.

Percy looked up from the swords and widened his eyes at the lost and found locket. "Whoa. Wait, how'd you know it was…?"

"Do you have a couple of gold, Seaweed Brain?" I asked him.

"Um, yeah, but –," Percy began.

"That's not for sale!" the foster kid panicked, trying and failing to snatch it away from me.

"And why not?" I asked curiously.

"Um, well, ah…" the boy hesitated and visible gulped. "I meant it has a different price."

"How much?" Grover scratched his head, not really caring as he picked up a miniature, metal apple sculpture above his head to examine it.

"Ah, ah, hundred gold coins!" the boy says with complete seriousness.

"Deal," Percy says, and began rummaging through his pockets. The boy looked freaked out.

"No! No!" he stopped him. "I meant a thousand!" It was already very obvious that he didn't want us to sell this locket to us at all.

Percy stared at Leo for a couple of seconds before he sighed sadly. The boy looked relived and happy that he succeeded. But it was too early for him to relax. He had no idea how rich Percy was.

"Alright, fine. A thousand, right? Stop changing the price. It's just a necklace."

"Wait," the boy said, completely stunned. "Y-You're still going to buy it?"

"Obviously," Percy says, pulling out a heavy looking sack from his pants pocket. "This is going to take forever to count."

I gave him a 'you are such an idiot' look. "Why do you want to keep this necklace so bad for?" I questioned.

"What'd you mean?" the boy asked hurriedly. "A-And actually, the-the necklace is um, a million gold."

Percy groaned. "That's all I have on me right now!" I was shocked; how can he even carry that much money on him?

Grover dropped the little apple. "You brought _how much_?"

"Ah, well, I left a several billion back on the ship," Percy scratched his head sheepishly. "I didn't think I'd need so much money for one locket."

The boy who sat in the middle of the rug gapped in horror. "S-Several _billion_? Y-You're a famous pirate?"

Percy blinked at the boy. "Well, no, I'm not well known. It's just my, ah, ex-captain, you could say."

"Ex-captain?" Grover furrowed his bushy eyebrows in confusion.

"The idiot wants to leave the crew," I explained swiftly to him.

"_WHAT_?" Grover screeched like a girl, absolutely horrified by the news. "No! No! Please, Perce, you can't just leave me! Luke kind of scares me!"

"_Captain Castellan_?" the boy assumed, shocked. "H-Holy mackerel…."

"Off topic!" I growled. "We want this locket," I said to the boy with determination. "Oh, and by the way, don't you have Thalia?" I added to Grover.

"Oh, well, she's –," Grover started.

"Who's Thalia?" Percy wondered, cutting off Grover's sentence.

Realizing what he'd said, Grover flinched and paused for a moment. "H-How'd you know?" he pointed an accusing finger at me.

"Not right now," I dismissed the conversation for some other time. "Right now, I want _you _to answer my question. Why won't you sell this to us?" I dangled the precious locket in front of his eyes.

He tried to snatch it back again, but I realized his move before he acted.

"Why do _you _want it so much? Does it have some sort of secret or something? Like a map to some treasure? Some kind of special clue?" the boy growled with curiosity.

I stared at the boy and an awkward silence followed afterwards. A couple minutes later, Percy burst out laughing. "That sounds so stupid!" he cracked up, holding his stomach as he rolled around the muddied ground.

I opened the locket and the little note with Percy's name fell out. I handed it to him. The boy's eye widened with wonder. "It's is some kind of clue!"

"Oh my god, this world is filled with _morons_," I groaned with frustration. I seized the note back from him and stuffed it back in the locket. I pointed my finger at the Seaweed Brain, partly because it's rude to. "_That guy _is named Percy. He gave _this_ to me. A girl _stole _it from me. I want it _back_. _Entender_?" I spoke his language.

The boy's eyes widened in comprehension. "_Oh_. Well why didn't you tell Piper that?" he said as if it was the most obvious thing to do in the entire world. Then he slapped his hands over his mouth.

"Caught," I said, "red handed. Where's Piper?"

"Oh," he squeaked. It feels good to be feared at times like these. "You-you know Piper? Ha-ha," he laughed nervously. The boy cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his shirt. "It sure is hot out here."

Grover, Percy and I stared intently at the boy for an answer.

The boy looked at his wrist. "Oh my, look at the time! My shift's over. See you guys later!"

Percy grabbed at his wrist before he could run off. "You don't have a watch," he says. "I don't think you can afford one either if you're working at a place like this."

The boy was sweating so much that I found him slightly disgusting.

Percy held out his other hand to him. "I like you, kid. I'm Percy Jackson," he says brightly. "You?"

The boy froze and a few seconds of silence followed. "Huh?" he was able to muster up from his malfunctioning brain. I was sure this happens in some point of a person's life when communicating with Percy. He's just so full of surprises that he even has the ability to stop you from thinking. Amazing, Percy is.

"What's your name?" Percy repeated, that grin still stuck on his face. I had no idea what he was planning. But a plan from Percy might be terrible. In fact, I don't even think that this is a plan at all; he probably wants to make friends like the good little boy Percy is.

"Uh, it's Leo," he replied warily, shaking his hand and slowly regaining his confidence. "Leo Valdez."

"Nice to meet you, Leo. Say, can we buy that necklace back or what?"

"Um, actually my friend told me not to sell it…" Leo trailed off.

"Does that friend happen to be Piper?" I asked bluntly.

Leo hesitated. "Yeah?" he squeaked at me.

"Well, if we can't _buy _it," I said. I stuffed the locket into my pocket and stood up. "Okay, let's go now, Seaweed Brain."

"Wait, _what_? You can't just take it!" Leo pointed at me as if I committed murder.

"If we can't buy it, then we'll steal it. I understand why Piper wants this locket so much. It's actually pretty popular amongst women. But, you do know that a thousand gold coins can buy _two _of these, right?" I said.

"Then why don't you just buy another?" Leo demanded an answer out of me.

"Because it was a gift from my boyfriend," I replied calmly. Percy and Grover gapped, but the Seaweed Brain was smart enough to snap his jaw shut before a fly flew in there. "I want this locket _only_, not another one," I pretended to act like one of the snobs at my stepmother's tea parties.

"So…you want me to take the money and buy another for Piper?" Leo asked as if to confirm my implication.

"Exactly. I mean, come on. Piper won't notice the difference because they're all the same kind of necklace anyways."

"Say, can we go on a date now that the locket's found?" Percy interrupted.

I blushed unintentionally. "Not until I _get back _the locket, _Percy-boo_," I teased, stifling a smirk and replacing it with an innocent smile.

Percy pouted. "Aw, come on, _Anna-Banana_."

I glared him for the nickname. "After I get back the locket."

"D-date?" Grover yelped, able to find his voice again. "Percy! You never told me! What am I doing here?"

"You wanted to tag along," I said, curling my hair like one of those idiots my stepmother wanted me to be friends with.

"Ah, I should leave. I don't want to bother your date. Oh my god, I should tell Beckendorf! Where is he?"

Percy grabbed Grover's shoulder before he ran off to spread off false rumours. He laughed nervously. "It was actually supposed to be a secret relationship. So don't tell anyone."

"I'm keeping an eye on you, Grover," I added. "You better not leave," I said in a threatening voice.

"Okay! Okay!" Leo gave in. "I'll sell you the necklace for a thousand gold coins."

"Deal," I said cheerfully.

Percy poured a heap of gold to Leo, much more than a thousand. "Keep the change," he says, obviously too lazy to count. "We've got a date!" he announced, walking over and putting an arm around me. "Come on, Grover. I need you to help me pick out some flowers for Anna-Banana."

I glared at him again.

We kept walking like that until we're reached a turn and out of Leo's sight. Percy removed his arm, and I sighed with relief.

"You're good at acting," Percy complimented.

"Not bad yourself," I said. "God, I can't believe I had to act like one of those freaks."

"Um, so you two aren't dating?" Grover wondered.

"No, Grover," I said. "We're not dating. And here," I handed Percy back the locket. "You're keeping it."

"Why?" Percy frowned, not taking it back. "I gave it to you."

"Because it's from your dad who gave it to your mom, and she gave that to _you_. It's the only memory object of your mom, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, the necklace is for a girl. And I'm a guy. Why would I want to wear that?" Percy says in a 'duh' tone of voice.

"You are _still _a sexist person, aren't you?"

"Of course not! I never was!" Percy protested.

"Then take it back!" I shoved the locket to his face.

"I _want _you to have it. My mom said to give it to someone special anyways," Percy frowned.

I froze. "I'm special?"

"Um, well, you're the first coolest girl I've met, so yeah. You're considered special."

"Gee, thanks. I'll consider that as a compliment," I muttered.

"Aww," Grover sniffled in the background. Well, that certainly pissed me off.

Percy helped me put on the locket again before he took my hand. "So how about that date, huh?" he asked with his cocky grin.

"Go die in a hole."

"I was kidding! Let's go and relax now! Hey, G-man, wanna go check out the rest of the shops?" Percy asks.

"Hell yeah, dude!" Grover says excitedly. "I need some butt-kicking weapons!"

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><p><strong>Happy New Years! I'm actually disappointed with the amount of reviews I've recieved for the previous chapter. You all hate me? D':<br>Sorry for the late update though, I was hoping I'd get at least ten reviews this holiday, but I haven't gotten much. Maybe my readers are all out on a vacation...  
>Anyways. MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW THIS ONE. That way, I won't delay my update, hoping that my reviewers would review before the next chapter's up. And yeah, this wasn't edited...because I was sad about the whole reviews thing...Plus my projects. Gah...<br>**

**Well, make sure you REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!  
>I'm currently trying to do crafts out of Hershey Kisses Wrapping Paper...<strong>

**By the way, I've created a blog. Go and check it out? The link is on my profile :)**


	14. Chapter 14: Fight

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.  
>AN: Hey… Yeah. I'm back? And sick.  
>Oh, I had someone review or mention to me somehow, someway (I forgot, and if it was a review, I don't remember which story…) that I overuse semicolons. I don't overuse them! They're just…underused by many writers. Semicolons can be used as much as comas. Most readers are probably just not used to them since semicolons aren't commonly used. I'm used to using semicolons, but some writers just prefer using comas and periods instead. Probably why you think I'm overusing it… <strong>

**Warning: It's a fighting scene. Yep. Very boring in my point of view… Not the best chapter :P  
>It'll get better :D<strong>

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><p><strong>Pirates – Chapter 14 (Fight)<strong>

Percy, Grover, and I wandered around the market's main district. I was hugging Percy's arm in case I get separated from him, and Grover hugged mine. He was very persistent; I couldn't shake him off.

Pushing through the crowd awkwardly, we went up to the closest stand: a store for expensive looking weapons and armour.

Excited, Grover dragged me towards it as I pulled Percy along like a dog. Once we've approached, Grover let me go and instantly started browsing through the items. I continued to hold onto Percy however; I didn't want to get washed away from a mob of shopping pirates.

Percy pulled up my hood over my eyes in case anybody detects us.

"Say, Percy? If you're quitting a pirate, what's going to happen to you then?" I asked him.

"Well, I told you I'd stay with you. And whoever said I was going to quit as a pirate? I just said I was leaving Luke's crew. I want to start my own. And, I want you to be my first mate," Percy grinned.

My jaw hung in shock.

"If you don't come, I'll drag you along with me anyways. I'm _not _leaving you alone," he says with determination.

"Percy?"

"Hm?"

"What kind of pirate captain would you be without a ship?" I stared.

Percy went silent for a moment, as if just realizing that very important issue. You can't be a pirate _on land_. We need a boat. And the other problem was: where the hell do we find one?

"Well, if I were the one of the Stolls, I'd say that there're a lot of boats docked on the port," Grover pointed out, lifting up a nice looking sword. He examined it for a second before placing it back down and moving out of earshot to look at other weapons available. I had a feeling he wasn't quite paying much attention to our conversation, or else he would've been begging us not to leave again.

"So we steal one of them," I clarified.

"Well, yeah, but it's going to be hard. Most ships are guarded and a lot of pirates are very gruesome," Percy added.

"Well, we don't need that big of a ship. It's only the two of us?" I asked, looking questioningly at Grover. Maybe he wanted to come with. I'd have to ask him about it later.

"Sure, I guess," Percy scratched his head. "Well, I think there's row boat – Ouch!"

"Us, a _row boat_ on the _seas_?" I raised an eyebrow at him, after smacking upside his head. "You're kidding me! One wave would wash us off the boat in a second! It has to be at least bigger than a row boat."

Percy frowned. "Well, it's only going to be the two of us, so a row boats fine. Plus, with my awesome powers, there's no need to worry about waves blowing us off. It'll be fine!"

"Percy," I started. "You want to be a captain of a crew, right?"

Percy nodded his head.

"Well, a crew definitely does not only consist of _one person_," I flicked his forehead.

Percy flinched at the pain. "Well, we can get a ship afterwards, can't we? Like, until we find another couple of people willing to be in our crew. And, the row boat is the easiest to steal, by the way."

I bit my lip. It was true, "But what if we don't have the chance to get another boat? What if we manage to find more than five people at the same time, but we just don't have the proper boat to fit us all in? There are a lot of problems having seven pirates on such a tiny piece of bark."

"Well, the boat looks big enough to squeeze in seven people… Plus, we could also travel by air bubbles underwater, so it's not a problem!" Percy continued to argue. Man, was he stubborn or what?

"But, I'm your quartermaster and lieutenant, so," I began saying.

"Hey! I never assigned you to be my quartermaster _or _lieutenant!" Percy crossed his arms.

I gave him the "_Really, Percy?" _look.

Percy just looked at the ground and shifted his feet uneasily. It was obvious he wanted me to take those jobs anyways, but of course, he had to be cantankerous as usual.

"Fine!" Percy huffed, finally giving up from under my intense stare. "We'll get a bigger ship, alright?"

Smiling in triumph, I led Percy closer to the weapons stand happily. The grin faded though. It seemed that the stand was to be kind of popular since a lot of people were crowding. No. They're _starting _to crowd the area. There was hardly anyone here before.

"Something's going on," I said to Percy with worry, thinking of Grover. "Come on."

We both pushed through the heavy clustered people in the way. And in the center of attention was Grover himself. He was picking a fight with the manager of the store.

"You break it, you pay it!' growled the huge bulky dude. He looked intimidating, and bigger than Beckendorf himself. He seemed like a dangerous person to mess with.

"I – I didn't break it! I swear! It wasn't me! It was this other guy who broke it! He was the one who pushed me!" Grover whimpered.

"LIES," the man roared. "_You _broke it! So what if he pushes you? _You're _the one who slammed into it!" The man held up a beautifully carved shield. The material may look strong, but for Grover to create a huge dent in it without a bruise must've meant the quality of the material actually sucked.

Grover was cowering, and he couldn't stand a chance. Everyone was looking, but they aren't willing to help; most wanted a fight and kept chanting out that word. I couldn't do much, but I should be strong enough to hold him off for Grover to run away. I mean, I beat Clarisse and my own security guards. I could take this guy on too.

I let go of Percy's hand and tried pulling the hood down as far as it can. "Hey!" I shouted. "Picking on someone smaller than you?"

The man and the audience turned to face me. I began to feel slightly nervous, but tried to stay looking confident. I gave Grover the chance to leave, but he just stood there like an idiot, shocked that I was standing up for him.

The man sneered. "Are you going to pay for him then, boy?"

I bit my tongue. "No," I started. "How about a challenge? No rules. If I win, you let him off the hook. If I lose, then I'll pay."

I felt Percy grab my wrist. "Don't do this," he whispered next to my ear.

I had to do something, didn't I?

The man laughed a loud and thundering laugh that startled everyone, causing the people to back up a few steps. Percy, Grover, and I stayed in our regular positions.

"I'll fight you," the man grinned. His teeth were yellow stained and disgusting. "Losing would mean you'd owe me eight thousand gold coins, boy."

I was about to agree, but Percy stepped in front of me.

"I propose another deal," he said, interesting the store manager. "_I _challenge you to a fight. No rules. I win, you let him," he gestured to Grover, "go, and get on your knees and praise _both _of them." It was obvious that he was implying me and Grover.

"And if _I _win?" the man asked gruffly.

"I doubt you'd win," Percy says. I dared to lift my head up to look at Percy's face. His eyes showed that he was bold and confident. Come to think of it, I've never seen Percy in action before. "But if you do, I'll give you ten thousand gold coins. How about it?"

"You don't have the money, kid," the man laughed.

"I do," Percy says. "If it turns out I don't, I'll work for you as a servant for the next decade of my life."

Percy's officially won the stupid award. I grabbed his arm. "Are you an _idiot_? Stop being a Seaweed Brain for a second," I hissed.

Percy merely unhooked my fingers around his arm and let my hand go. He didn't even make eye contact with me. My head couldn't help but fill with questions. Is Percy good at fighting at all? Is he going to reveal his powers and use them? What on earth is he going to do?

The man stared at Percy and I saw his fingers twitch. If he won, he'd get a good offer. But his head turned to me.

"I decline. I want to challenge _you_. See what _you've _got, boy," he said to me. I was a little surprised at first, but it was also best taking the easiest opponent and win anyways; I'd have done the same. Too bad for him; I'm not an easy opponent. "Like you said: 'no rules.'"

He was planning something, and I know it. My eyes scanned the surroundings. There were people for sure, and we were right in front of the weapons' store. There was a sign painted on a huge wooden board reading, "_Any usage of these products without payment must pay a $200,000 fee_."

Because he was the owner of the place, he'd have free access to these weapons. Was that it? Most likely since his fingers were inching closer to that iron mallet. My own fingers itched to grab my dagger.

"Our match," the man grunted, "starts now."

He picked up the mallet, and it doubled in size, bigger than me. The weapon must've been enchanted somehow. The man smirked when he saw my expression and tried to pound me into pieces. Luckily, I narrowly dodged his attack after recovering from shock. With a mallet that huge, it is almost impossible to escape its wrath.

Swiftly, I tried to get as close as possible to him without getting smashed. I quickly reached down and took the dagger out of my boot and stabbed him in the stomach. The man grunted and coughed out blood, but he looked up and gave me a deadly glare. I swallowed down fear and glared back, twisting the dagger that's still stuck deep in his flesh.

Slowly, his expression showed pain, and I was beginning to feel satisfied. However, the man managed to use his strength to shove me aside brutally. I fell onto the ground, feeling my shoulder dislocate. I restrained a scream. My knife skittered away from my reach. The man got up, blood dripping from his mouth, lifted up his mallet above me.

My eyes bulged from horror, trying my best to scramble back up, but there was no time. I rolled over to avoid getting hit, cradling my shoulder, enduring its pain. I stumbled on back to my feet.

The store manager sneered at me as if wondering why I still have the nerve to fight back. Well, firstly, I will _not _lose to some fat man wearing a half burnt apron, _especially _with people watching; and above all, with _Percy _watching. Plus, I've got to save my dignity by beating him up.

Apparently, the crowd was cheering for the apron man as he raised his mallet up once more. I merely glared at the man, understanding his next move. I needed to get my dagger and avoid getting smashed like a bug.

I got into a balanced stance, standing on the tip of my toes, and ready to run for my weapon, watching steadily at the oversized hammer. The man brought the hammer over his head and swung so unwittingly fast that I wouldn't even dodge it in time.

Luckily, Percy sensed the danger and wrapped his arms around my waist just when the mallet was about to drop. He pushed both of us aside, protecting my damaged shoulder when we slammed onto the cement floor. He then rolled us over right when the mallet touched the ground. My hood slipped off.

Percy was on top of me. I felt Percy's hot breath on my neck, and my face unintentionally began to heat up.

What the hell is he _doing_? Does he think that I can't handle this myself? Sexist moron! I could beat that fat duck in a millisecond! I was just going easy on him! Didn't he just see me stab his fatty blubber?

But before I could shout out those words at him, Percy got off me quickly. He was much lighter on his feet than I thought. Swiftly, he took out his pen from his pocket and uncapped it. It immediately transformed into a bronze leaf-shaped sword.

Great. Now afterwards, I'd have to yell at him for stealing my fight away from me too.

"What are you doing?" the aproned man snorted.

"No rules," Percy reminded him in that cocky way of his.

Percy charged at the oblivious, fat store manager and knocked him out by smacking the bottom of his sword handle to the side of his head, extremely hard. The man fell unconscious, and there was a pool of red blood chilling out around his head and from the wound I gave him.

Percy re-capped the sword and it turned back into a pen, stuffing it back into his pockets. "You okay?" he asked as the crowd around us began to murmur about something.

I continued to gap at him. "My fight. Stolen. By you of all people," I said with surprise. And then I glared. "Ugh. Stupid Seaweed Brain."

Percy raised his hands up in self defense. "Hey, I was only trying to help."

I clenched my teeth. "I was doing just fine on my own, thank you very much," I growled, ignoring Percy's offering hand and stood up myself, cradling my shoulder.

I was obviously upset. Now Percy thinks that I'm not capable of taking care of myself. That stupid imbecile… If only I had a couple more minutes. I realized that the people around us were whispering about me.

"That was a _girl_. What does she think she was doing? Is she an idiot?" one muttered to another.

It was enough to make me snap. "Shut up!" I yelled at the blonde, skinny boy. He was wearing a purple robe and stood like a stuck-up snob. "_I _was trying to help a friend, where as _you _are just a pathetic little bystander."

The pale blonde sneered at me and cracked his bony knuckles. "Excuse me, young lady?"

My anger burned stronger. That stupid kid needs a lesson about proper behavior. And I was about to teach him just that if Percy hadn't stopped me. Why was it always him? It was always his fault for everything.

Percy put an arm around my uninjured shoulder. "Hey, calm down," he whispered into my ear.

I just turned to face him, and I gave him an icy stare before shaking his arm off. I pushed though the cluster of gossiping people and stormed off angrily, hearing Grover's and Percy's voice calling after me.

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><p><strong>Yeah, I know. Awfully short, unedited, a month late update. I sincerely apologize. I'm terrible.<br>Now, please review by clicking the button below, and tell me just how much you hate me! :D**


	15. AN: This Story Will Be Deleted

_SUPER DUPER AWESOME AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

('Kay, maybe it's not that awesome. I never ever wanted to make a stupid author's note in place of a chapter 'cause it's annoying... But oh look! I'm a hypocrite.) I apologize for not updating anything for like, a super long time? Yeeaah... Well I've got exams and EQAO coming up. And homework is piling up more than ever. There. My excuse D:  
>Anyway here's some seriously important news:<p>

**THIS STORY WILL BE DELETED.**

I've come up with bigger and better ideas for this story. It'll still be in Annabeth's POV, but I'm making a lot of significant changes to the story. I'll keep the story up for now. I'm going to delete it once I finish at least the first three chapters of it and complete the entire planning thing. Yeah. I'm sorry if you liked it and I hope you aren't gonna kill me now?  
>But I promise, you won't regret it! (Actually, scratch the "promise" out. Just hit me with tomatoes already. I'll eat 'em if you don't want them.)<br>Oh, right. There's also another in-coming problem regarding my awful update issues. Um, I'm gonna be away for the first half of the summer. Heh.  
>In short, it'd probably take a looooong time for my next update.<p>

Well, that's an awful lot of bad news.  
>But you know, I LOVE YOU ALL. (Please love me back.)<p>

_- C-Nuggets N.L_


	16. AN: SUPER IMPORTANT BECAUSE I'M SUPER

**Author's Note Again:**

Sorry to disappoint. Dx

I'm leaving tomorrow for my vacation. And I've decided: I am not posting up the first chapter of the re-written version of Pirates until I get back. I know, I know. Throw tomatoes at me once I'm back from my vacay. Trust me, I'd be happier here, in Canada, in my room, typing away while I procrastinate on Facebook. Sadly, plane tickets are expensive, and I'm not allowed to put it to waste. Of course, by now you must be all thinking, "EXCUSE ME? I HAVE TO WAIT A MONTH HERE? GIRL, TELL ME WHERE YOU'RE GOING SO THAT I CAN COME BEAT YOU UP LIKE NO TOMORROW." Well. I'm scared, so I'll be keeping my mouth shut. Of course, you must also be wondering why I'm postponing the story to one more month until I get back.

You'd probably be thinking:

1. "Oh my gods, she's being lazy again. She probably didn't even finish the first chapter." True. I have one last sentence to write before finishing up the first chapter, oh ho :D

2. "Oh my gods, she wants to torture us again by making us wait!" True. Because it's fun. (For me, but not for you.) :D

3. "She hates us all!" False. I love you guys! Please come back! D':

But here's the main reason:  
>I'm gone. For one month. No updating. For one month. YOU KIDDIN'? I want to jump back onto schedule with an update once a week. If I leave you guys hanging for a month, you'd probably all forget what the first chapter was about. Mostly because you'd be more familiar with the older version of Pirates than the newer one. And since I'm leaving tomorrow, oh ho, I won't be hearing any of your compliants. ;D<p>

**However, be sure to alert to author**! Alerting to this story would be kind of useless 'cause I'd be deleting it before I post up the new first chap. You can delete me off your author's alert list later on and just alert to the new Pirates story once I have it up, if you want. The title of story is still going to be Pirates. That's not going to change for sure. I'm not creative when it comes towards titles. :/

_**SNEAK PEEK OF FIRST CHAPTER**_? WHERE? On my blog. Ha ha. I'm not posting it here 'cause I want you guys to be all aware of it. I'll be posting up sneak peeks 'bout my stories from time to time on my blog, fanart I drew 'bout PJO, lame and stupid excuses for not updating, and so forth. Anyway, the link's on my profile, so check it out!

And while you guys do that, I'd probably be at my vacay spot already, being chased by swarms of mosquitos and chillaxing in the heat with no AC. I might not even have Internet connection... The paaaaaiiiin...

Please don't kill me until I get back! :D

Your total awesomeness,

-_ C-Nuggets N.L_


	17. AN: OPINION NEEDED

**Another Very Important Author's Note (OPINION NEEDED)**

* * *

><p>Okay guys, so I've finished chapter 1, but I haven't completed chapter 2 yet.<p>

I'm going to need an opinion from you for several things, okay? Just review to reply.

But first off, I've decided not to delete this story, but leave it here as abandoned. I've noticed how people have subscribed to this story rather than to the author, so they wouldn't know when the re-written story would have been posted. I'll put up another author's note here to notify you guys once the story has been updated.

Alright, so here are some things I need an opinion for. Remember to reply to me in a review, or a private message if you'd like.

* * *

><p><strong>a)<strong> Would you rather I update the first chapter now?  
>If so, be warned that I may take a long time to update again for the next chapter.<br>If not, um. Well, the first chapter may turn up around next year. It's just a guess, don't take it seriously (ish).

**b)** What flavor of pie do you prefer? Blueberry or strawberry?  
>This is important guys; this is important.<p>

**c)** Would you guys be okay if this story were to end up with 100+ chapters?

**d)** You see Percy lying on the ground half dead. What would you do?

**e)** I know I haven't been um, very…devoted to long chapter stories, but how would you feel if I were to post up another one? Or two or three or four or more?  
>I just think up of more ideas than I can write them. Warning that I may not be as devoted to those stories either. Ha ha…<p>

**f)** What did you think of The Sea of Monsters movie trailer?  
>I was absolutely disappointed that Grover wasn't in a wedding dress. I really hoped that they'd do it right in this film.<p>

* * *

><p>Yeah, so that's pretty much it. Please reply! I hope none of my readers are dead yet. Well, I should really get started on my homework.<p>

Yours laziest,

_C-Nuggets N.L_


	18. Final Author's Note: It Is Here

**Author's Note: it is here.**

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that the first chapter of the new version of _Pirates _is now up. Even though I haven't quite finished the second chapter…but I really wanted to update something since it has been a _reaaaally _long time now.

Plus, I have a new fanfiction idea I plan to write (oh gods, I know right?), but it should only be a two-shot, so you can calm your horses. The cover + a preview of it is posted on my BlogSpot. The site for that is on my profile.

Even though it's now summer for me, my parents think it's funny to attack me with chores. We're painting the walls now. Woo-hoo. I wonder what's next after that. Ugh, I really need more time for myself. My parents think I do nothing but sleep over the summer and makes me do work. I don't think they understand that I have a life.

Anyway, enjoy the first chapter of _Pirates_!

**Warning: **At this rate, it seems that I will maintain my slow update. BLAAARRGGGHHHAASDFGHJKL.


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